Impossible
by Sandrine C
Summary: Set at the end of 2x18. An insight into Elena's motivation for her actions in the closing scene of the episode and the consequences of such a choice.
1. Chapter 1

**Impossible**

**Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners.**

Elena sank to the floor, dagger in hand, and waited. It felt heavy in her hand and something about it drew her in, making her want to sink it back in Elijah's chest. But she couldn't. Not now. Not when she knew with conviction that Damon would put everyone she loved at risk if it meant saving her life.

"_I don't mind being the bad guy. I'll make all the life and death decisions, while you're busy worrying about collateral damage. I'll even let her hate me for it…but at the end of the day I'll be the one to keep her alive."_

She closed her eyes and sighed deeply as she replayed the words Damon told Stefan when he thought she was out of earshot. Elena felt the weight of how impossible Damon truly is. Even armed to the teeth with good intentions, he still managed to turn her world upside down, complicating it to the point that she didn't know which way to go or what to believe. In less than a day, Damon succeeded in annoying her, disarming her, brought her to her knees and then in the final stretch, pulled her out of every darkness she wanted to dissolve into.

But he was right and she counted on that. He will keep her alive, even when she didn't want to be saved. He would do anything to protect her, even if it meant pushing the limits of whatever it was they had. With Damon, there was no right or wrong but just the question of the lengths he would go to in order to protect her.

Elena focused on her breathing, letting everything fall away but the feel of the cold metal in her hand. She should hate him for what he put her through, even if it did help their ultimate agenda. The slap she dealt him was much deserved, for breaking her in ways she never thought she could be hurt and promising that he would sacrifice so much more of her heart if it meant she lived.

A dry sob escaped her again, the raw pain of earlier events coming back to her as an image of Bonnie lying lifeless on the ground echoed in her mind. Her free hand flew to her mouth instinctively as she fought to keep silent, willing away the nightmare. But it wouldn't go away and it morphed into a more terrifying image, one that propelled her to even go down to the basement in the first place—Damon, lying in a pool of his own blood, his blue eyes frozen in an empty and wild eyed stare with nothing but death in them.

Elena clutched the dagger to her chest as she heaved shallow breaths, blinking hard to wash away the scene from her mind. But even as the image died away, the fear that came with it only intensified, consuming her until she had nothing to hold on to but the moment that drover her to bring back Elijah to life.

"_Let me be clear about something. If it comes down to you and the witch again, I will gladly let Bonnie die. I will always choose you."_

"_I will always choose you."_

The last phrase resonated in Elena, filling her with equal parts warmth, fear and anxiety. Elena knew Damon well enough that she believed without question that he would live by what he said. He would throw everyone in Mystic Falls in Klaus' path if it meant that it bought Elena even just a second longer to make a run for it. It was another reminder that without a doubt, she understood that he would save her…or die trying. He will choose his own death over letting her die.

Elena clenched her jaw, her entire body tense as she let the words ripple through her once again; reminding her that bringing back Elijah was necessary to avoid that. Drastic and possibly reckless, it was the only thing she could think of as she left Damon's room. Elena stopped caring and did what she had to do because she had a secret of her own, a truth as powerful as Damon's admission.

"_I will always choose him,"_ Elena whispered in her mind, her hand making a fist over her heart in an unbidden gesture.

Elena knew that was her reality as the words settled in her mind but she would not go farther than that. She left it as an inexplicable fact and she didn't want to pluck them out of the maelstrom reasons that swirled in her thoughts. Attempting to understand her reasons for countless times that she chose not to walk away from him were better left unsaid. The explanation for why the unforgivable became forgotten and only trust remained will best be kept as part of the dreams she forgets when she wakes up. The rationale for why she needed him around and why she always believed he could be a better man is something only she can whisper in her sleep.

Elena can only admit to wanting to save him above all others but she wasn't ready to face why his death scared her more than her own. She closed her eyes and with that she lay the dagger on the ground, knowing she would do anything to keep him as he his—dripping with sarcasm, dangerous, confusing, disarming, and most importantly, alive.

"_I will always choose you."_

His words made her ache, the weight of it settling fully on her shoulders, forcing her to understand what he couldn't tell her outright.

"_I love you, Elena."_

Elena gasped and blinked rapidly even if she heard it only in her mind, imagining exactly how casually he would say it as if it were gospel truth. Tears filled her eyes again as she fought the desire to actually hear him say it, to see his eyes when he expressed that and for any distance between them to disappear. The image was so painfully clear in her mind, almost like a memory, that it made her wish it were real, everyone else be damned. If only she could manage to say something stronger, closer to the truth, but for fear of hurting someone, she only managed a veiled apology about hitting him.

"_I trust you with my life and my heart, even if I can't give it to you. I shouldn't choose you but I always will. I can't love you but I do. And it will never change."_

Elena stared as the color began to return to Elijah's face finally feeling the onset of hesitation as she wondered if this is the right thing to do. She shook the doubt away, knowing there is no turning back if she wanted to make sure Damon never had to make the choice between her and whatever stood in the way of her safety. Elena knew she was saving him, though he would and _should never_ know that.

Elijah's eyes flew open and before Elena could react; his hands were at her throat cutting off her air supply.

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now, doppelganger?" Elijah said with a tenuous calm.

"Because," Elena rasped out painfully, "we want the same thing—Klaus dead. He's here in Mystic Falls and I need your help to kill him."

"The price is still the same, Elena," Elijah whispered close to her ear, "Your life."

"And you protect everyone I love?" Elena said

Elijah released her and took a step back, eyeing her as she struggled to stand up straight, the ghost of a smile fixing itself on his lips, "How will I know who to protect when you don't even know who you love, Elena?"

"What are you saying?" Elena asked even if she understood Elijah fully.

Elijah merely gave her a pointed look and shrugged. He regarded her with his eyes full of malice, "I do not have the resources to waste on the safety of those around you if Klaus is already here. And considering how easily you can betray me, I simply do not want to. But I do need you so I'm offering you another deal—pick one person to keep safe and that is it."

"What do you mean?" Elena said fear pounding away in her chest.

"You know what I mean, Elena," Elijah said, "Think about it. You have a day to decide. I'll be in touch."

Before she could react, Elijah was already out the room. And as she stared at the dagger on the floor, the only evidence left that he was ever there, Elena thought of the question that still hung in the air and the answer she could not bring herself to speak.

"_I choose Damon."_

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Hope you enjoyed that. Still thinking if I should leave this as it is or continue it. What do you think? :)**  
><em>


	2. Chapter 2: Instinct

**Impossible**

**Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners.**

**Chapter 2: Instinct**

Damon stared at the empty doorway as if Elena still stood there, wondering what it was that he was missing. There was something in the way she turned and looked at him before vanishing from sight that unnerved him. Her apology, no matter that it lacked the actual word 'sorry', was expected. It was the part of her that cared unfailingly, even for those who did not deserve it. It was the part of Elena that made her vulnerable, the side of her that Damon needed to toughen up if she was to be kept alive. But he didn't expect her hesitation or the acceptance of his words about how every other life is expendable but hers—this is what made him wonder.

He understood that saving her involved tough love, the kind that would expose her to extreme heartache. Damon knew keeping her alive didn't just mean taking bullets or hiding her in a safe location. Part of that job was making sure she would be strong enough to get herself through whatever it was that was coming. She needed to be her own hero, stronger and braver than she is now, because Damon knew he had little chance of surviving this time around with the plan he had in mind.

"_What did you do with her?" Elena said jumping out of her seat to confront Damon._

"_Can you please calm her down?" Damon said to Stefan, who stood silently rooted to where he stood._

"_Don't talk like I'm not standing right in front of you." Elena said angrily, tears streaming down her face_

"_Please calm down." Damon said with deliberate slowness, emphasizing each word._

"_You knew…you knew that if she harnessed all that power that she would die, didn't you?" Elena demanded, knowing the answer but wanting to hear it just the same._

"_Yes. Yes, I know." Damon answered without remorse, his face carefully arranged to show nothing of the mess he was inside at watching Elena fall apart._

Damon closed his eyes as he remembered the tears he caused, the anguish clear and ragged in her voice as she accused him. He was sharp and cutting when he replied when all he wanted was to take it all back. It wasn't his pain that he felt when she hit him. The only thing that coursed through him was the emptiness Elena felt thinking that Bonnie had died. He wanted to take it away and tell her everything was okay but he needed her to understand _why_ it had to be done. Damon needed her to see the strategy behind it and not emotions or his own guilt. It didn't matter that he broke yet another part of her that night, or even if he added another thing to the list of his unforgivable sins against her. The one thing that kept her from reaching out and crushing her to his chest in a tight embrace was his determination to keep her alive.

He meant every word he said to Stefan. He was comfortable being the bad guy, as long as he got the job done. It suited Damon just fine because it was nothing new to for him to be hated. In more than a hundred years, he hid behind that persona as if it shielded him from the heartaches the world set out for him. Stefan chose to agonize over what he was and was careful not to come even close to the boundaries he set for himself, afraid to hurt anyone. Damon, on the other hand, tested every limit and ignored those that did not serve his purpose. He was no stranger to the looks of disappointment from those around him. But it didn't mean it didn't hurt, especially when it came from the one he loved.

The look on Elena's face was too close to the one he saw that fateful night he broke Jeremy's neck. It made him want to scream in pure, unadulterated fury, if only to take the edge off for just a few seconds. He wanted to hate himself, blame the world and whatever else crossed his path because facing raw emotions was something he wasn't ready for. Anger was easier to understand, so he chose that every single time than face the collateral damage he accused Stefan of prioritizing.

But there was something about Elena that stripped away the false bravado, forcing him to slip up and show that side of him that was honest and real.

"_I will always choose you."_

This was _his _apology, in advance, for whatever crimes he is yet to commit in service of his mission to save her. In so many ways, it was the confession he compelled her to forget. Damon loved her and this was the closest he was going to get to letting her know exactly how much she meant to him. Everyday he kept his distance, placing enough space between them that he doesn't suffocate in her presence, of being so close to something he wants so badly but can never have.

He closed his eyes, remembering the split second decision he took before risking saying those words to her, wondering if she would figure it out somehow, that she really knew him that well, and that somehow she really did understand why he did what he did. A flicker of hope burned in him when she hesitated, as if there was something she wanted to say, perhaps a response to match. But the resigned sigh that escaped her lips erased that and he was left with an empty good night, making him feel cold and impossibly alone.

Damon shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, replaying everything from that scene in his mind, desperately seeking the source of his unease. For a second, he wondered if he mistook Katherine for Elena again but he dismissed that, laughing internally thinking at least this time he had enough restraint this time to not kiss her. And then suddenly it came to him, his head snapped up as Elena's words floated into his consciousness.

"_We'll find another way."_

"No, no, no," Damon whispered over and over, things clicking into place, her words echoing in a haunting loop in his mind as he finally figured out why Elena chose to remain silent and why she looked at him, as if there was something more she wanted to apologize for. Everything about her screamed that she had a plan in her head, one she didn't want him to know because it probably involved placing herself right where danger can find her.

How he knew to go down to the basement, Damon didn't bother to understand. It was irrelevant to comprehend the details of how his mind worked when it came to Elena as long as it led him to her. All he knew in the seconds it took him to get to Elena was that he was going to find something he didn't want to see.

"It seems I'm not the only one with a penchant for doing stupid things when I get upset," Damon said, not even bothering to hide his irritation as he picked up the dagger from the floor.

"My house, my way, remember?" Elena said weakly, suspended in her own disbelief as Elijah's bargain hung over her heart heavily, "I call the shots. No lies, no secret agendas."

"Excuse me, Miss I-have-a-death-wish, you broke your own rule. I think this counts solidly as having a secret agenda because this was not what I had in mind when we asked you to sign those documents," Damon said crossing his arms in front of him, resisting the urge to shake some sense into her, "What have you done?"

"I pulled out the dagger," Elena said quietly.

"Stating the obvious won't get you out of this mess, Elena," Damon retorted, "I want to know why and don't tell me you're actually convinced we're lucky enough that somehow Klaus and Elijah will just kill each other and all our problems will be solved."

"We need his help, Damon," Elena pleaded, wanting him on her side more than anything, an irrational desire burning in her that needed him to understand her, "He knows how Klaus operates and maybe, just maybe, he can come up with a better plan."

"No, Elena, don't be naïve," Damon pointed out, his voice dripping with false calm, "His plan will still be the same—use you as bait and then kill Klaus. You know why that's his plan? Because it's effective and it will require the least effort on his part. Why will he bother with complications that only serve _your_ purpose and not his? Elena, his plan will not involve a win-win situation. But judging from the manic, suicidal look about you right now, I'm guessing you know that. The only question is what deal did you make with him this time?"

"You're angry," Elena said in a small voice.

"Yes, Elena, again with the obvious!" Damon exploded, his hand closing into a tight fist, "I know what I did to you tonight was cruel and I am to blame for pushing you to do something about my cavalier attitude towards the witch's life but I never imagined you'd do _this_. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking of _you!_" Elena said, matching his intensity, losing what little control she had left, letting the world fall away from them, "All of you," she amended, "All the lives we're going to risk in the hopes we defeat Klaus. I can't stand it. I won't have all that blood on my hands or yours, for that matter. If I can end it as cleanly as possible, I'll take my chances."

Damon was silent for a long time, listening for Stefan's footsteps, knowing it was inevitable, given their screaming, that his brother would not come barreling down the steps to the basement. He had a minute, give or take, and he was going to make it count.

"Do you know why _I_ want to save you?" Damon said in a low voice, closing the small distance that separated them, "Stefan has a hero complex and claims you're the love of his life, those are his reasons. Bonnie is your best friend and she thinks this is her destiny, to be the super witch who saves the day. Alaric, minus the guest in his body, is a vampire hunter and thinks you're another innocent life to save. Caroline is a loyal friend and will be there with you, no matter the state of her love life. Your family, well that's a given. But me, did you ever wonder why I'm still here?"

Elena shook her head, entirely focused on Damon, living only in that moment with him, waiting for him to continue.

"Elena," Damon started, knowing fully well that Stefan was within hearing distance, "I'm here because I have nowhere else to go. I'm tied to you in ways I don't even understand because you're the only thing keeping me from completely giving up trying to be good. I'm not just fighting for your life, Elena, I'm fighting for mine because it will destroy me to lose you. Saving you means I don't fall to pieces and become the monster I know exists inside me."

Elena looked at Damon, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, her voice catching as she spoke, "Is that the only reason?" she said, somewhat pleading with him to say what was left unsaid.

Damon gave her a pained smile, unable to trust that he would be able to fight the need to tell her that he loves her.

Elena sighed and blinked the tears away, "The bargain is my life for one person I love, just one for me place under his protection. Just one to save."

Damon laughed bitterly, "Easy problem for me but I supposed it's practically impossible for you to make that call. I'll leave you to it…and Stefan since he's rudely eavesdropping outside anyway."

He stepped away from her, placing the dagger in her hand before leaving. Elena's hand closed around the weapon but her other hand shot out to hold Damon's, keeping him in place, "I haven't given Elijah an answer. I can't…"

Damon sighed and pulled her hand away, lifting her chin by his finger, "Elena, you already know the answer, I can't see it in your eyes. You just don't want to admit it because you can't reconcile it with the happy ending you're still clinging to. But if it's any consolation, I promise you that you won't have to make that choice. I will get you out of this mess with Elijah. If he wants to play, even if he's an Original, then he goes by our rules."

Elena nodded at his reassurance, responding with a small smile, wondering if he really did see the answer in her eyes.

A smirk found its way on Damon's face, "Before I leave you to explain to Stefan where our previously rotting houseguest is off to, I want to make a deal with you. See, I have a guess as to who you're bound to choose but I'd like some confirmation. So, here's my offer, if I get you out of this will you tell me who is the one person you'd give your life for?"

"Shouldn't the answer be obvious?" Elena said trying to keep her composure, hoping Damon wouldn't sense that she was shaking inside, afraid to be found out.

"It's not," Damon said evenly, his eyes observing her intently, "or you would have given Elijah his answer the second he asked. The only thing I know for sure is that it's not Stefan."

Elena blinked back surprise, opening her mouth to protest but then shut it again.

Damon eyed her curiously, lifting the spell with his on cavalier words, "Relax, it was only a joke," he said knowing Stefan was listening just outside, "You can come in now, brother. I was only teasing."

But the look in Damon's eyes confirmed Elena's fears—he knew he was right and someday, he will hold her to their agreement, then he will know that she meant to die to save him.


	3. Chapter 3: Confession

**Impossible**

**Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners.**

**Chapter 3: Confession**

They are almost always on opposing sides, even when they had the same goal. Stefan tended to be cautious and considerate, while Damon saw everything around him as a means to whatever it was he set his eyes on—Elena's safety being one of those things. But this isn't what made Stefan feel like the world shifted around him and suddenly he was the one all alone.

Damon stared into the fireplace, watching the flames lick the edges of the wood, mesmerized by their dance. He kept looking at it even when Stefan entered the living room and sat down quietly away from him, staring until he was acknowledged.

"What?" Damon spat out irritated, feeling Stefan's eyes burn a hole through him as he refused to face his brother.

"What's done is done. Elijah is back and we need to figure out how to make that an advantage." Stefan said patiently even as Damon rolled his eyes.

Damon crossed the room and poured himself a drink, "I don't think so. I'm changing my mind and breaking my promise. I'm not touching this particular dilemma. This is all Elena. It's for her to figure out how Elijah fits into this equation because it was her plan to bring him back in the first place. Or are you telling me the dear girl has finally realized she's in over her head?"

"Give her a break, Damon," Stefan said wearily, knowing Damon didn't mean it. It wasn't the first time that Damon threw up his defense mechanisms in his face. But it did surprise Stefan that Damon wasn't trying hard enough to disguise what he was doing. For the first time in years, Stefan saw that his brother was tired and is fighting a losing battle with his emotions for Elena.

"With what you put her through, this was bound to happen." Stefan continued, taking a shot to wear down Damon a bit more, force out the honesty from him, "She's emotional and thought she was doing something that could help. You were threatening to sacrifice people she loves, Damon, and she's not the type to take that sitting down. She's not selfish."

"Not like me, you mean? I have to hand it t you…you astound me with how well you know her, Stefan," Damon said in a patronizing voice, refusing to take the bait, "I'm beginning to feel jealous because _I_ thought I had her all figured out. Oh, well. But little brother, you know that this isn't a game where you get points for effort. Best intentions won't get you anywhere if you suddenly start asking for help from people most likely to stab you in the back. You have to admit it's stupid that Elena didn't learn from the first time she tried to bargain with Elijah. How many times do we have to explain the concept of 'this will never end well' to her before she gets it through her thick skull?"

"We don't have a choice but to deal with Elijah. I'm not asking you to trust him, Damon. But we need to find a way to make this work," Stefan said standing up but keeping his distance from Damon, restraining his frustration, willing his brother to cooperate, "If we keep pushing Elena, she's just going to sneak around and make a deal with him. It might as well happen under our watch."

"The things she can make you do with her tears," Damon said shaking his head in disgust, "Find yourself some self-respect, Stefan, and learn to say no. I'm sure there are some brochures on how to do it in case you get stuck."

"Alright, then what do you propose we do? Strap her down in a chair? Lock her in her room?" Stefan countered in annoyance, frustrated with the effort of getting a real answer from Damon.

"Guilt," Damon said giving in with a quiet sigh after a minute, suddenly morose, leaning in once more over the fire, his eyes unfocused as he stared into it, "Use guilt. She responds to that. Going to Elijah means she signs the death warrants of so many people in her life since his new deal involves saving just _one_ person. Throw her words to her face—we find another way, that's what you say. The blood will be on her hands, blah, blah and blah."

Stefan watched Damon's shoulders slump almost imperceptibly in defeat, the fight draining him more than he would let on. He knew what kinds of horrors Damon was imagining in his head because he saw the same things. He knew that his brother was thinking of the many ways Elena could die and the horror of not being able to stop it. Desperation was something they shared in this situation but only Damon was impulsive enough to come up with things that could do more harm than good.

"Why do you insist on hurting her?" Stefan said gravely, "Even if she falls into the darkness, she won't ever be a match for you. She's not made for that and you know it, Damon. Even if you break her, she will mend and when she does, she won't be with you…or _me._ I've accepted that. You should start coming to terms with that too."

Damon's lips curled into a smile, bittersweet and full of longing, "I never saw Elena as anything other than an impossible dream. I'm not trying to manipulate her into falling from grace to even things out between us. Even if it sounds like a lie, Stefan, I want Elena to be happy. I _know _how much I'm hurting her and that there's a part of her that will never be the same even after everything is said and done."

"But I'm standing by what I said," Damon continued, "I'll make the life and death decisions, force them on her if I have to because I can only get her that happy ending if she's actually alive to see it. But that's not what this is about, is it, Stefan? You've known I was bluffing the moment I started talking so this seems to be a ploy to talk about something else that's weighing on you. It's about Elena and how fragile you're painting her out to be. She's much stronger than what you give her credit for so why are you so afraid of seeing her less angelic? Is that fear I see, dear brother?"

"What are you talking about, Damon?" Stefan said steadily, trying to contain the tremor in his voice, the uncertainty that Damon would pounce on.

"You're afraid she'll turn out like Katherine," Damon answered with a wave of his hand, "Isn't this how we started out before? Just like the playful and innocent Katherine who turned into a living nightmare and the world's best heartbreaker."

"She's not Katherine," Stefan answered automatically, but lacking the conviction that Damon knew wasn't really there.

"Say it a hundred times more…maybe you'll believe it then," Damon threw at him, "You're not worried about damaging Elena. You're afraid you're turning her into Katherine. If it's any consolation, Stefan, you're still top choice for either of them, so I wouldn't worry too much."

Stefan moved with such speed that Damon was knocked off his feet when they collided. "You don't know what you're talking about, Damon." Stefan growled, crouching in a defensive stance, waiting for the other to retaliate.

Damon stood up in one fluid motion with his eyes trained on Stefan, taunting his brother, "Your actions say otherwise, Stefan. And here I thought you were over Katherine."

"Don't make this into something it's not, Damon," Stefan said steely.

"And what if I do, Stefan?" Damon said grinning, itching for a fight, provoking his brother, "What are you going to do about it?"

Fueled by anger, Stefan moved to strike but Damon was ready this time and instead turned the tables, pushing Stefan against the wall, one hand tight around his neck. "Get it together, Stefan. If you're weak enough to be goaded into a fight and into doubting that Elena or your feelings for her, we're in deeper trouble than I thought. Elena will _never_ be Katherine for the simple reason that she's actually capable of love. Oh, make no mistake, Elena is dangerous, capable of deception, cunning and manipulation but her intentions will always be good. How can she forgive someone like me if she weren't Elena?"

"What is going on here?" Elena said in surprise as she ran towards Damon to pull back his arm, "Let him go!"

Damon rolled his eyes and dropped Stefan unceremoniously, "At the risk of sounding like a petulant child—he started it. It's not my fault I'm stronger."

Elena glared at Damon as she gathered Stefan in his arms, "Are you okay?"

Stefan nodded but remained silent, eyeing his brother as he stood up, wondering how much Elena heard from their conversation. He watched Elena give Damon a look of disapproval coupled with one of exasperation. Stefan laughed bitterly inside, an unexpected wave of jealousy hitting him as he realized that Elena never showed that many emotions towards him. But those emotions faded as quickly as they had come, somehow knowing he had no right to them believing that he was right—he was always on borrowed time with Elena. Sooner or later she would realize this and he needed to get used to being in the shadows. The night he got stuck in the tomb with Katherine was only the beginning…he just didn't think the end would come so soon.

"Oh, Stefan, such a coward…so I'll ask what you're obviously dying to find out," Damon said interrupting Stefan's thoughts, "Elena, how much of that did you hear_?"_

Elena took a deep breath and faced them calmly, "Sit down…both of you."

Damon opened his mouth to protest but a look from Elena made him obey and he raised his hands in surrender then proceeded to sit down beside Stefan. Elena paced in front of them until Damon raised his eyebrows at her and made a ticking sound.

"Anytime today, Elena, we still have a dagger to put back in Elijah's chest," Damon said before turning to Stefan, "Yes, I changed my mind _again_. Actually I never did…I was just kidding the first time. You know, lighten the mood and all since Stefan was all broody. He's more fun when he's unsettled."

"I know," Elena began, ignoring Damon's rambling, "that Stefan is afraid I'll end up like Katherine. I've known that since the day she showed up and threw everything out of balance. And everything I'm doing until this point is to prove that it's not going to happen. It hurts to think you don't trust me, Stefan, but I understand. I just need you to try and see _me_ not her. Please."

Stefan nodded silently, lowering his head, avoiding Elena's eyes. Damon rolled his eyes and looked at Elena directly, "I don't think you're going to be Katherine. You don't need to remind me. Are we done with the lecture?"

"You scare me." Elena said to Damon's surprise, making him lean back in the couch.

"I'm sitting down in the most non-threatening way I know how. My face is not all vamped out and I'm speaking in a calm, peaceful voice. So unless you're afraid of the clothes I'm wearing, you're going to have to elaborate." Damon said, his eyes narrowed down to slits.

"I'm afraid of you, Damon," Elena said quietly as she sat down on the coffee table, squarely in front of him, "For some reason, you see _me…_the real me_._ You have the capacity to break me in ways I'll never recover from because you know me, even better than anyone ever thought you would. And you're a reckless person that you don't even what you're doing until after the damage has been done. You're a train wreck waiting to happen and I'm always stupidly standing in your way, finding infinite reasons to forgive you if only to keep you in my life."

"It's a good thing that I know how your mind cranks out those funny little ideas of yours," Damon said, trying to keep his voice neutral, "It helps me stop you from doing stupid things and be one step ahead of you."

"No, Damon, it's not," Elena said, "Because I need you _beside _me. You scare me senseless because I'm watching you walk ahead of me and you make all these insane choice just so I don't have to. And every single time I feel you're going to die."

"It's a risk I choose to take. Besides, if it goes down like that, you'll cry a little then say a few nice words after and you'll move on. Big deal," Damon said with a shrug, trying to appear nonchalant.

"Then you're going to have to teach me how to live without breathing," Elena said softly as she stared at her hands, "I need to be able to deal with that suffocating feeling for every second of my life that I'll get at your expense. I need to know how to forget the feeling that I'm drowning and I can't break the surface even as my lungs collapse in on me. Because that's what it feels like when I have nightmares of seeing you on the ground, eyes open blankly staring up in the sky and absolutely nothing left in you. I can't face the day when I'll look into your eyes and you won't see me anymore."

"I've fought so hard," Elena continued, her voice shaking as she resolutely stared down, not wanting to see Stefan's reaction or Damon's for that matter, "to keep you in my life that I've blocked out everything you did to push me away, every single act you did to hurt me and make me want to hate you. Please, Damon, don't throw that in my face."

Damon stared at her, his jaw clenched tightly with indecision. He reached out and placed a finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"Make your deal," Damon said to Elena, his voice thick with emotion, wishing not for the first time that he could just run away with her and not put her through all of this, "Tell Elijah you've made your choice. Tell him that you're willing to die for Jeremy. Bring him here and we'll go for another round of duplicity. It should buy us some time at least."

"No," Stefan interrupted, "Elijah will see through the lie. Tell him the truth…who you really chose, Elena. He needs to trust that you're serious about this and you'll follow through on the deal. It's okay. I'm okay."

"I'm sorry, Stefan," Elena said softly as she nodded in agreement, her eyes full of pain and apology, knowing that Stefan understood fully the words she said so desperately to Damon, a confession she wished she never had to make but now had no doubt was the right thing to do. There was no turning back now. They danced around the truth for so long, it was time to let the pieces fall where they may.

"_I'm_ sorry, did I miss a step?" Damon said, completely confused, "It's_ not_ Jeremy?"

"No," Stefan said clapping his brother on the shoulder, a trace of sadness in his tone, knowing the moment had come. He has lost Elena.

"It's _you_, Damon. In case you didn't notice, my girlfriend just told you she's in love with you."


	4. Chapter 4: Starcrossed

**Impossible**

**Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners.**

**Chapter 4: Star-crossed**

Damon stared ahead, unsure of what reaction would be acceptable after a declaration like that. He froze and thought that maybe if he stayed still long enough someone else would figure it out for him. He didn't expect it or if he somehow did, he didn't think it would unfold as it did. But here they were—three people who looked like they were staring at the aftermath of an explosion, full of disbelief that it actually happened.

The shock stayed with Damon. It didn't not fade as the seconds passed and the prolonged silenced proved the rest of them felt the same way. But of all the things that were bouncing around in his mind, he was sure of one thing.

It was true.

It wasn't a lie.

In the middle of it all, Elena fell in love with him.

And he didn't know what to do with that knowledge.

Because even as he wanted it so badly, he still didn't believe it was right. His own words, the ones he compelled her to forget, echoed in his thoughts.

"_I love you, Elena. And it's because I love you that I can't be selfish with you….why you can't know this. I don't deserve you. But my brother does. God, I wish you didn't have to forget this…but you do."_

Damon watched her, wishing he could say the same words again and would end it the same way. He would make Elena forget, make her believe that she should be with Stefan and he would go on as a shadow in her life. He thirsted for the happiness that was finally within his reach, with the girl that kept trying to protect him even from himself, and he knew he had to push her away.

"Damon…" Elena said trailing off, hesitant and somewhat afraid. No, she was petrified with what she was seeing. Elena could see his struggle with the truth, his unwillingness to accept it even if he knew it was real. She knew that he was putting together the pieces and then taking them apart, trying to find that one combination that didn't involve his hand in hers.

And then Damon laughed, more like roared, as if he thought everything was one hilarious prank. He doubled over in fits of laughter that wouldn't end. It was a sound that not even Stefan heard from his brother ever in their existence. It was foreign and horrible all at the same time, the notes of his laughter crashing over them like waves, wild and unrestrained. He kept laughing until it became a strangled sound, full of hollow meaning.

"Damon, will you please calm down," Stefan finally said, "I should be the one losing my mind. Not you. This is happening and you can't pretend it's some kind of joke."

"It's true, Damon," Elena whispered, "What Stefan said was true…"

Damon sobered up as he took in her words, his face slipping into a more somber expression, "I know. I just figured if the impossible things are suddenly happening then we really must be close to the end."

"Do you really think we're that hopeless, Damon?" Elena said with the hint of a tragic smile, tilting her head to look at him.

"I really think we're that _not_ meant to be," Damon started, wincing as he saw Elena's face fall slightly, "But there's something to be said about people who fight fate, destiny or whatever. It takes nothing less than everything to love someone you're not right for and somewhere along the way you change the world and rewrite history so that you can be together. In a word, epic. You _really _think that's us?"

Damon moved closer to Elena so that their faces were only inches apart, "Do you believe, with everything in you, that this will survive the Originals and whatever comes after? This isn't a fairy tale, Elena. With me there's no happy ending but an endless life of struggle until there's nothing and I don't exist anymore. Are you willing to face that life? I can make you laugh, happy and jumping for joy. But I can also torture you, do things that will make you cry and scream. I can make you hate me, Elena, just as much as I can make you love me. I still can't promise you the lives of the people you love if it comes down to choosing between them and you. Are you still willing to save me, Elena, knowing all that?"

"I…." Elena started, unable to finish, at a loss for words even when her heart was screaming for her to say yes. She looked at Stefan, who looked at her with a pained but encouraging expression, trying to be supportive and ever the martyr.

But the split second hesitation was enough to Damon to close off. He took advantage of it and brushed everything away as inconsequential, retreating inside himself as he stood up. Elena's hand shot out instinctively and held on to him.

"Wait," Elena said quietly, "Stefan can you give us a moment? Call Jeremy and ask to talk to Bonnie. Tell them to find a way to come here undiscovered. I have a plan…but I need to speak with Damon alone."

Damon raised his eyebrows in question but waited until Stefan left before speaking, "Did you send him away so you can steal a kiss from me?"

Elena glared at him and slapped his arm, wiping the smirk on this face, "Be serious, Damon. And while you're at it be sensitive. This isn't easy for anyone, especially not for him."

"I didn't ask for this, Elena," Damon exclaimed, "I was perfectly content with unrequited love and being the unsung hero until you decided to randomly bring back Elijah in this mess."

"Look," Damon said taking a deep breath, placing his hands on her shoulders, "Just make your deal with Elijah and bring him in so we can keep him close. Choose whoever, me or your math teacher…I don't care. Let's just figure out how to win this thing and the rest should sort itself out."

Elena struggled, wanting to tell him so much but instead she found her hands moving up to his face, pulling him towards her in a kiss that she never knew she was waiting for. Damon was taken by surprise, leaving him motionless in her touch for a few seconds until he let go of everything. Their lips moved in a dance that was tinged with desperation, fear and an explosion of promises they would die to keep.

"I was right, you wanted to kiss me," Damon said teasing her as he pulled away slightly, leaving only their foreheads touching.

Elena placed her hands on either side of his face and spoke, "Damon, listen to me. I hate that I had to wait for things to get so irreversibly bad for me to find the courage to actually be honest about what I feel. I know how destructive we are for each other. I know I can push the right buttons to make you lose control and you know exactly what will make me fall to my knees. But I love you and—"

"I love you, Elena," Damon said softly, interrupting her, straightening up so he could look at her properly, "It is what it is— imperfect and uncontrollable."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Elena said with a smile, "So are we okay?"

"I believe so," Elijah said coolly, appearing as if out of thin air, "Unusual choice but not completely unexpected. The Petrova women have this unfortunate tendency to fall for the wrong men. But there it is."

"How did you get in?" Elena said as Damon pushed her behind him, keeping himself between her and Elijah even as he moved around casually, picking up random things, "I didn't invite you in."

"Simple," Elijah said as he settled on the couch, "I was inside when you changed the ownership and the spell merely believes I've always been an occupant. Now, please, sit. We have much to discuss."

Before Elena could react, she found Damon strangling Elijah, choking him as if he were dealing with an ordinary vampire. But that lasted only a split second because in the next moment, Elijah threw Damon clear across the room and then dusted his coat serenely.

"I have no qualms about killing you, Damon. Only my word to Elena is keeping you alive and one misstep will change all that. I'll end you with the dagger you used to put me down. The only difference is that for you, the death will be the lasting kind. Are we clear?" Elijah said gravely, his eyes surveying his face for a deceit.

Elena shot Damon a look, asking him silently to cooperate before turning to Elijah, "So what do we do now? We just wait for Klaus to show up at my doorstep?"

"You would do well with a bit more patience about these things, Elena," Elijah said calmly, "Take a page out of Katerina's book. How do you think it is that she survived this long if she weren't patient in carrying out well-laid plans?"

"Just answer her question," Damon said irritably as he stood up, "and spare us the we-have-all-the-time-in-the-world speech because in case you're still not updated, our numbers are dwindling. Your manwitches are gone. And _we_ are down a witch, a vampire hunter and an evil bitch vampire. Time is definitely not on our side."

"You still have the doppelganger," Elijah said with a wave of his hand, "everyone else is simply… _replaceable_."

"Why is the doppelganger important, Elijah?" Stefan said slipping back into the room and stopping to stand beside Damon with his arms crossed in front of his chest, "If you're going to sacrifice her to break the curse, at least give her the courtesy of making her understand why."

"In time," Elijah said standing up, "Elena is not yet ready to know. But I promise you, Elena, you will. In fact, it won't work unless you know the reason why you have such an important part to play."

"I know you think you can fool me," Elijah continued, "You think I don't know Bonnie is still alive and that you've somehow tapped into the power of the dead witches. You think that you'll figure out a way to stop Elena's inevitable death and kill me along with Klaus in the process. I welcome you to try but I would prefer if you didn't. I will tell you now that it is quite unlikely you will succeed but not impossible. But do you really think that will be it? Elena is the doppelganger. She will _never_ be completely safe. She will inevitably _die_. It's just a question of who will be the one to accomplish that."

Silence descended on the room, the only sound were the footsteps of Elijah as he was leaving, stopping only briefly one last time, "Oh, and I would advise against turning yourself into a vampire. That was Katerina's lucky mistake. But it won't work for you because you're the _last _doppelganger. It ends with you and there's nothing you can do to change that."

"I dare you to be more cryptic, if that's even possible," Damon muttered under his breath.

"I heard that," Elijah said with the trace of a smile, slowly turning to face Damon.

"I know," Damon retorted, "I wasn't trying to be discreet. I'm tired of your mind games. Give a straight statement just once, Elijah. Make me believe that you actually know what you're talking about. Why is Elena the last doppelganger?"

"Because she's found _you_." Elijah said, "See, I _can_ be more cryptic, Damon. Look it up…find the first Petrova who wore that face and read her story…see how all this mirrors that. You'll understand. And you'll know why her blood will be on your hands, not mine."

Elijah turned to Elena before he finally left, "_These violent delights have violent ends. And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, which as they kiss consume," _he said, "Shakespeare had it right, don't you think? Like star-crossed lovers, I know you never had a choice in loving him. You just do. But it doesn't change the fact that it is doomed. Enjoy what little time you have left with Damon."

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: The quote is from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet :) Hope you're enjoying the story so far!**_


	5. Chapter 5: Haunted

**Impossible**

**Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners.**

**Chapter 5: Haunted**

_**A/N: Picked up some parts from 2x19 but this is still generally AU after 2x18 :) Hope you enjoy this update!**_

Elijah stepped out into the night and breathed in the cool air. He closed his eyes as he tried to forget the face that haunted him for centuries, the one that had a place in every generation, taunting him even in the darkest places of this earth. There was no peace for him even when his company was only his mind.

He turned around and took a look at the Salvatore house, surveying it, wondering how fate could be so cruel to keep repeating history until it ended in a fiery disaster. With a thousand secrets, he walked away thinking of how much he saw of himself in Damon Salvatore, how much they stand to lose and how much they still have yet to sacrifice, all for different sides of the same woman. The only difference is that Damon will die knowing the woman he loved would have gladly done the same for him. He will not die unloved while Elijah has eternity to live out not knowing what it feels to have loved returned.

He was on the road to nowhere, walking without direction but he kept going, knowing he had to keep moving for the sake of something to do. Elijah needed to focus on anything but the name that his thoughts turned to the second he awoke, the one name that made madness seem like a welcome escape.

_Katerina._

A low growl escaped him, almost wild and feral, quite uncharacteristic of him and more like his brother, the elusive, enigmatic and almost mythical Klaus.

Few knew about this connection and Elijah wasn't surprised because this was part of what his entire family had worked for over centuries. They buried the truths about their origins, doing everything in their power to obscure fact and turn fiction into reality. They misled humans into believing the worst and giving them reason to fear creatures like them. They weaved lie after lie about what they were and for Klaus the mystery only added to the ease of being a predator. They never saw him coming and if they did, it would always be too late.

But Klaus didn't really need that advantage. He could still get what he wanted in other means that did not involve any panic or fear. He could mingle with the best of them and he earned trust so easily. The humans in his circle never suspected, never dreamed that the beguiling young man could be anything but good. He always had a smile on his face that teased of a secret everyone was dying to know but they didn't know it was merely prelude to a fatal game. They only find out so near the end that they only have time to scream once before there is nothing but the dark.

Centuries unfolded as the Originals moved in and out of history and Klaus continued to excite and enthrall, drawing in both humans and vampires to him. His charisma was legendary and people would fall at his feet for just his smile. Klaus thrived on the thrill, riding his own emotions from happiness to fury and completely immersed in his power. He was the golden boy and everyone loved him. But it wasn't enough. It would never be enough. Not until the curse was broken would he be satisfied, and until Elijah knew the real stakes, he stood by Klaus as he murdered for that very cause.

Elijah was very much as lethal as his brother, but with a stillness about him that drew him more as an enigma than a force like Klaus. He was loyal to his family, his younger brother Klaus most of all. Elijah saw in Klaus the parts of himself that he wanted to become, the potential to be something great. But he was content with the shadows to watch over his little brother and play second-fiddle…even when it came to Katerina.

He sighed inwardly for the hundredth time that day, wishing the stars would fall on him instead of bearing witness to his failed attempt at maintaining his composure as he stood alone. Elijah stopped suddenly in the middle of the road, the black pavement stretching out in front of him like an endless black sea and even in the darkness the only thing he could see was Katerina and how she looked when he saw her last—fallen so far from grace but with the beauty of an avenging angel.

Elijah kept walking as his mind wandered to the first time he met Katerina. Already past his natural life, he was already numb from his existence and saw the world in shades of gray, colored only slightly by the world of magic that surrounded his family. His only purpose then was to find the one who could break the curse and then she came along, the sea of people fading into the background as their eyes met. She was unlike any other that Elijah met before, so much like a breath of fresh air that he no longer needed as a vampire but found that it still amazed him.

Katerina was not striking at first, with her plain long hair and brown eyes. However, the opinion changed when he saw the smile on her face that was so captivating, cunning and full of untold stories that begged to be told. But what endeared her to Elijah was that she could handle Klaus in a way that nobody did before, albeit with unladylike responses and unexpected wit and grace. They clashed as often as they agreed, Elijah acting as arbiter or spectator most of the time. He never read into it and that was his mistake. Elijah was merely content to pick up any pieces Klaus left Katerina shattered in, waiting, always waiting for him.

But his friendship with Katerina, or whatever it was, paled in comparison to what passions Klaus brought out in her. What are smiles and polite words compared to laughter and heated exchanges? Elijah felt her fading from his life as time passed. He knew it was a matter of time before he lost her completely and he did not mind, for he understood what it was to be a brother. Elijah stepped aside, letting Klaus plan out her death for his cause, thinking he was defying the part of the curse they all believed was insignificant. Katerina would never come between them. The doppelganger will not be able to prevent them from breaking the curse when she did not even know that was her purpose for existing. They will win and they will no longer be bound to that ancient curse.

"_True love is not real unless it is returned. Do you agree?" Katerina said her voice clear but everything else of her seemingly far away._

"_I do not believe in love, Katerina," Elijah answered, a lie but one he wished were true._

"_That is too sad for me to accept, my lord. Life is too cruel. If we cease to believe in love, why would we want to live?" Katerina replied passionately, making Elijah afraid of his own heart._

Elijah remembered the lost words from lifetimes ago. It made him work to save her, find ways to break the curse without taking her life. It was then that the blinders came off and he started to see what his brother had become, what slave Klaus was to his own power. He labored to find a means to honor his brother's desires and still spare Katerina but in the end she betrayed them all and took matters in her own hands. With her actions, Katerina made family, life and love impossible for Elijah, setting him against his own blood. And after centuries of searching for her, wanting to exact revenge to end his agony, he finally found her only to realize he still answers to the call of saving her. Elijah knew then that he never stopped loving Katerina.

Elijah compelled her to remain in that tomb, hidden and a danger only to herself. It was a place that Klaus would never look and the sacrifice could take place without her taking any part of it. He could deal with Klaus without needing to think of her in the line of fire. But as this was no longer their story to play out, everything slipped out of his control and now Katerina is in Klaus' hands. As much as he didn't want to, he needed trust Elena, Damon and Stefan to play this out to its conclusion. This is their ending to make, and their love to put on the line to break the curse or seal it completely forever.

He found himself in front of a rundown mansion, something that possibly was grand and beautiful in its day. But now it stood a few ways away from complete ruin, an ugly reminder of what it used to be. Elijah took a deep breath and listened for signs of life. The entire place pulsated with powers so dark, he could smell the violent deaths that caused blood to spill and taint the land.

Blood. It began with blood. It fueled the darkest, most powerful magic the world had ever seen and created the most fearsome beings to ever walk the earth. Elijah's father Alexander and his brother Dimitri thought of their creations, what they had done to their families and themselves as their triumph and the ultimate defiance to nature. But their greed turned blood against them, against each other as it answered a higher power—love, one that they were foolish enough to think they could control. Blood became the curse that bound them to an insatiable thirst, slaves to the emptiness that could never be satisfied. The hunger, oh the hunger, it drove them to their knees and it kept them bound to this world like the filthy humans they toyed with. And most of all, it kept them trapped in a body that still knew how to _feel_, to care and to love but somehow in way that was larger than life that it consumed them. Thus, though difficult to kill, they still were _weak._

This was the curse Klaus wanted to break. He wanted to no longer need blood to sustain himself. He no longer wanted emotions or anything that seemed remotely human. He wanted to be invincible that no ash, dagger or power can kill; the being that their father's magic intended them to be. Klaus saw it as his destiny to rule the world and this was the last obstacle on that path. It drove Klaus insane that it was the thing that disgusted him the most that created that hindrance.

"_Leave."_

The voices of the dead witches whispered harshly to Elijah, the force of witch was almost tangible enough to push him back, farther away from the house.

"I mean no harm," Elijah said to the empty air before him, "I only wish to speak with the Bennett witch. There are things she needs to know if she is to carry out what she is set to do."

"_There is no need. Anna is among us. It is her tale to tell. They will all know in time. Leave, cursed one, you are not welcome here."_

The voices were sharp and Elijah could feel that they did not back down even after he nodded in acquiescence, "Then she knows the curse has run its course and it will come to an end, either it is broken or sealed forever."

It was a single voice that replied, so much like Katerina's and Elena's that Elijah knew for certain it was Anna, the mold from which all doppelgangers were created from. The woman who died for the brothers she loved and damned them to an eternity of misery by the light of the moon.

"_That remains to be seen. They have found each other but they are yet to make a choice that will define how this will end. You know what is needed and I can see your doubts. Their love may not be enough."_

* * *

><p>Bonnie felt the power stir even as if she was already in the Salvatore house. Her hand found Jeremy's, seeking comfort and strength as she strained to understand what was happening. Even if she anchored the power of the dead witches to her, she still knew it was wild and largely untamed. She will never be able to fully master it and she will have to give some control with them. Bonnie understood this but it was something she kept to herself, showing everyone else only the brave face she put up for their sake. There was no room for her fears when so many lives were on the line.<p>

"Bonnie? Are you okay?" Elena asked, a concerned look on her face, picking up on her friend's unease, "You look…"

"I'm fine, Elena," Bonnie interrupted, "I'm just still a little tired from everything."

"Isn't fake death supposed to be restful?" Damon said with a smirk on his face, earning him an elbow from Elena.

Bonnie glared at Damon but ignored him for the most part, "I don't understand what happened here and I don't want to but let's get one thing straight—no matter what you do, you will be nothing more to me than a loathsome, psychotic, evil vampire. I'm only working with you to save Elena but we are not friends."

"Sheesh, it was a joke, Bonnie. Lighten up. You're not the one doomed ala Romeo and Juliet, _I_ am." Damon said, rolling his eyes.

"Can you two just please behave?" Elena scolded them, "We don't have time for this."

"Bonnie, is it possible that the witches in that house know about what Elijah was talking about? What he means by Elena being the last doppelganger?" Stefan interjected, trying to redirect the conversation and diffuse the situation

Elena mouthed a silent thanks to Stefan before turning to Bonnie, "Elijah said something about the story of the origin of the doppelganger and how it mirrors what's happening now."

In that same instant, a gust of wind swept through them and the lights flickered until the room was left in a dimmed state. Elena gasped as she watched Bonnie's eyes turn completely black and expressionless, her voice not her own as she spoke to them.

"You must not ask questions," Bonnie said in a harsh voice, "when you are not ready for the answers."

"Bonnie? What's going on?" Elena said, her heart thudding out of her chest even as Damon squeezed her hand in his.

"I am Anna. Bonnie will return to you, there is no need to be alarmed." Bonnie's voice spoke to them.

"Who are you?" Elena asked.

Bonnie's face twisted into a knowing smile that sent shivers up Elena's spine, "You are my doppelganger, Elena. I am the First."

There was a collective gasp in the room. Elena paled as she struggled to find her voice, desperate to ask everything that was going on in her mind but Damon beat her to it.

"Then you can start by telling us how to save Elena," Damon said getting straight to the point.

Bonnie turned slowly to him, transforming as she took him in, pain and longing plainly written on her face. Her voice was broken when she finally spoke, "Your eyes are blue."

"I know that, in fact, everyone can see that. You didn't answer my question. How do we save Elena?" Damon asked irritated

But Anna ignored him and turned to Stefan before she continued, "I'm sorry. It would have been kinder to have been honest if I had made my choice. It would never have gone this far if I had the courage to truly love. But I couldn't break one heart for the sake of the other and I ended up damning us all."

"Please, Anna," Stefan said calmly, even as Damon made low rumbling sounds, "we need your help to understand all of this so we can fight what's coming."

Bonnie smiled wistfully as she looked at both brothers, "I was young when I met them, Alexander and Dimitri. They were brothers like you. They were the best and the brightest, and nothing the world could throw at them could keep them from becoming great. Together they dreamed and conquered and I was the only thing to come between them."

She turned to Stefan, "I met Alexander first. He found me one day as I limped my way home, bleeding from injuries of my own carelessness. It started an easy friendship; one I thought was something that could turn into something like what I saw with my own mother and father. It was stable and safe. We both knew about the powers that lay dormant in us and our dreams were the same."

"But Dimitri, his brother," she continued, turning to Damon, "blew into our lives like a storm, throwing everything off balance and the power that we were so careful with. I found myself staring into something I've never seen before, challenging everything I ever knew. I hated him for being such a nuisance in my relationship with his brother, for needing me so much and for making me feel like I mattered. Dimitri tore me apart so many times I couldn't recognize myself anymore but he put me back together in ways that made me a better version than I used to be."

"I loved them both." Anna said simply, smiling wanly at Elena, "And I was selfish enough not to choose, thinking I was doing right by them. But I was only saving myself and I left them. I married someone else, had a family and there were days that missing them didn't hurt so much. I believed they moved on as well but still I hid. I thought it was over."

"I was wrong," she said in a broken voice, "I never knew the extent of the enmity I created between the brothers. By the time I bore my last child, they had already transformed into immortals, equally powerful and vengeful but distinctly different predators that were fully at war with each other even if I was only a memory to them."

She took a deep breath before continuing, "They found my family, murdered them in cold blood. They were merely humans and they had no chance of surviving. I was almost lost to the grief when I heard my daughter cry, only a few months old at the time. It was the most beautiful and agonizing sound that my ears were ever blessed with…and the last I ever heard of her. I gave her away and then I set out to find Alexander and Dimitri."

"I found them locked in combat with each other," Anna said, "their respective families watching, itching to join the fight. Alexander's sons, including Klaus and Elijah, were there facing off with Dimitri's wolf pack. My anger and despair fueled me to come between them one last time. I looked them and saw almost nothing of the men I loved before. I wanted to save what little was left so badly."

"I killed myself in front of them," she said softly, almost a whisper, "I let them watch my life slowly empty from my body, binding them to my blood that tainted their own, cursing them to the darkness they had turned our lives into. I made them weak and slaves to the humanity that I had once loved them for. I took from them their greatest dream and made it a nightmare. But in the process I cursed my own daughter as I did to their own descendants. Her bloodline will follow my broken path, forced to face the impossible choices of love and the mistakes I made once before."

"The blood that bound them all will be the same blood that will free them," Anna said, "Yours Elena, your life as I gave mine before. As long as you live, they will never be free of that part of them that is good. They are not lost, not completely…not yet. But Elijah did not lie. Because the doppelganger has finally made the choice I was afraid to make before, you have forced the hand of destiny to rule. It must end with you. Even if you die by your own hand or by any other means, you will break the curse and they will have exactly what they want."

"That's great but we're not looking to break the curse," Damon said sarcastically, "We're here to save Elena not make Klaus king of the world."

"Even after the death of my family, the repayment for a past love, I still wanted to save them from themselves and the evil they created inside. I gave up my blood, my life for them because I loved them still," Anna said turning to Damon, "It is a deep magic that no witch or warlock can ever recreate because it is what everything is made from, it is why my spell endures. It is in your hands, Damon, whether she lives or dies…not mine. If you love her enough to make the same sacrifice, to fully accept the curse as a fact of your existence and die for that, then she lives. If not, then you know how that will end. Decide by the full moon, Damon. The debt will be collected then. One of you will die. The choice is yours."

Before anyone could move, Bonnie had collapsed in Jeremy's arms and they were bathed in a blinding light before everything returned to normal. Stefan ran to Bonnie's side, shaking her awake, occupying himself with anything but having to consider the inevitable loss of someone he loved when it all goes down.

Damon nodded to no one in particular, his jaw set firmly, refusing to look at Elena as he made his decision. He knew without turning that she was shaking her head in horror, silently pleading with him to not act on what he's thinking of.

"Damon," Elena said placing a hand on his arm, "No, you're not going to go and sacrifice yourself—"

"What's with the double-standard, Elena?" Damon said casually, pulling off her hand, inching away, placing distance between them no matter how small, "When _you_ wanted to kill yourself in the name of the people you love, you were stubborn about it being the only way and didn't want to be saved…now you're saying I can't do the same for you? It's my chance to play hero, Elena, give me this."

"No!" Elena shouted, "I can't…not when I just…there has to be another way…"

"There isn't," Bonnie said softly as she came to, "Everything she said was true. The alternative is a lifelong struggle to fight off anyone who comes after you, starting with Klaus."

"Who cannot be killed by means we know, and I'm pretty sure decades of battle, where innocent lives will be lost, is not okay with Elena. Better to cut clean with the option dead witch doppelganger original gave us," Damon said nonchalantly, "Besides, I'm the one people will miss the least, with possibly Elena as the only exception. It's the lesser evil, Elena."

"He's right," Stefan said steadily, meeting Damon's eyes, nodding in agreement, "This is our best bet."

Elena stared hard at Stefan and slapped him before he could react.

"I trusted you. I _loved_ you." Elena said, her voice cracking as she spoke, her breathing ragged as she struggled with her words, "He is your _brother._ Does that mean nothing to you?"

"It means everything to me, Elena," Stefan said evenly as he looked at her, remorse in his eyes, "Even if it kills me to watch I will let it happen because I won't be able to deal with how broken he will be if you die in his place."

Elena shook her head at all of them before running out of the room, her tears streaming down her face freely, blurring her vision completely. She kept moving until she found herself outside and she fell to her knees, hugging herself as she screamed at the sky until her lungs burned. She kept screaming even as Damon's arms went around her, holding her tightly against him, reminding her how cruel fate was to them. Elena screamed and hit his chest until her anger subsided into sobs that Damon tried to calm as she rocked in his arms, shocked to the core that only one of them was meant to survive this.

"Are you done?" Damon said after innumerable minutes later, his hands brushing the hair away from her face.

"I won't let you, Damon," Elena said hoarsely, "I will always fight to save you."

"I know," Damon said with a smile, "I was there every single time you did just that. You're going to try because that's what you do. I'm just expecting a different result this time."

Elena shook her head, "Why…why are you so calm? Why aren't you angry? Why aren't you afraid?"

Damon kissed the top of her head slowly before pulling back so he could look at her properly, "I am. I wanted to rip out her throat, even if she wasn't really there and it was actually Bonnie. I wanted to hurt her. I still do. I want to fall apart and just switch it all off. But I love you, so I'm keeping it together. I told you—I will always choose you. And that includes over my own life."

"I can't accept that," Elena said as she buried her face in his chest, "I will never be okay with that."

"I know," Damon said as he tilted his head to the sky, "Look up, Elena. We're a day away from the full moon."

He took a deep breath and continued, "Give me tomorrow. Just give me that last day with you. No questions, no curse, nothing. Just us. One day to live in the present. I just want to walk beside you for once and know you want to be there with me. I just want to know what it's like to love you on a normal day."

Elena nodded, forcing the tears down, "And then what?"

Damon just gave her a pained smile and shrugged, "And then nothing."


	6. Chapter 6: Return

**Impossible**

**Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners.**

**Chapter 6: Return**

Elena was half awake but she refused to open her eyes, choosing to be in between dreams and reality. She curled into a fetal position so she could cram herself in the small space that was uncomfortable enough as she was jostled every few seconds. Her eyes flew open as she suddenly realized she was _moving_ and she was in a car instead of her bed.

"Good morning," Damon said cheerfully as he tapped his fingers on the wheel, following the rhythm of the song blasting out of the speakers.

"Where are we?" Elena said looking wildly around her.

"In Georgia," Damon replied humming along to the radio

"Georgia?" Elena repeated incredulously, "No, we're not. Seriously where are we?"

"Seriously, we're in Georgia." Damon said his smile widening, wondering when Elena would catch on, "How are you feeling?"

"What?" Elena asked in a slight panic, "We need to go back. Pull over. I mean it Damon, stop the car."

"Ugh, you are so much fun when you're asleep," Damon snorted and rolled his eyes as he slowed to a stop by the side of the road.

Elena stepped out of the car and somehow she knew that before she got out completely, Damon would be there. He had a playful look about him as she shut the car door and leaned back against it.

"I'm guessing you have my phone," Elena said wryly as she stared out, finally realizing where they were and how familiar everything was.

"Yep," Damon said patting his jacket pocket a second before the ringing started, "And look who's right on time…hello, Stefan? Uh huh, she's right here. No, she doesn't want to talk to you. Buh-bye, have a good day now, Stef."

Elena shook her head, soft laughter escaping her as she watched Damon tuck her phone back into his pocket, "What is this Damon?"

"One day, remember?" Damon said to her, his expression softening as he looked straight ahead.

"And you want to spend it doing everything over exactly like before?" Elena asked, "Why?"

"Because I'm trying to figure out something," Damon answered as he kicked a stray pebble, avoiding eye contact.

"What?" Elena asked eyeing him suspiciously

"The place and the time you fell in love with me," he answered with a shrug, "I figured if I can't solve every other problem I have I can at least unravel that mystery."

"You can just ask me, you know," Elena said with a smile, her heart constricting knowing this day wouldn't last and that beneath their light banter was a pain that only knows how to grow.

"Oh, honey, I don't think even you know the answer to that," Damon said smugly, "You were in the middle before you even realized you cared."

"So you think it started in Georgia?" Elena asked playing along even she desperately wanted to talk about all the worries that were left unsaid.

"Not really, not for you," Damon answered as he opened the door for her, "But that's were it started for me."

"Why?" Elena asked as she went in, leaving the door open to wait for his answer.

"Because I finally saw _you, _Elena," Damon answered with such intensity that Elena was held captive in his gaze, "You were suddenly no longer Katherine's double but just…Elena, the girl who is a fun drunk, who had the most unusual questions about vampire 101 and the girl who saved the life of her kidnapper. How can you not fall for that?"

* * *

><p>Damon drove as fast as he moved that by noon they were already en route to their next location. "Any guesses?" he asked her, wiggling his eyebrows at her playfully.<p>

"Disneyland," Elena answered deadpan.

"Ooooh, close but no," Damon said as he turned a corner, "The Mystic Falls Founder's Hall."

Elena traced circles on her window, trying to hide the smile that was fighting its way out of her as her mind saw nothing but blue. She could almost feel the banister beneath her fingertips ash her heart raced while she searched for the escort she already knew would disappoint her. But she kept moving, one step at a time, until her heart stopped and the world shifted in the slightest the second Damon stepped in her line of vision, looking up at her like he's been waiting for her all his life.

She turned to look at him as he concentrated on the road, tracing every feature of his face with her eyes. Elena wanted to memorize every single detail as if that act alone would mean she would never lose him. But she knew it wasn't enough. She would never be able to catalogue the hundreds of facial expressions he had, every single one that betrayed his emotions to her. She would never able to perfectly recall his hypnotic eyes and how they could see through every lie she said to his face. Elena wanted to memorize the man who made that face come alive but she knew it was impossible.

In her distraction she didn't even notice that they had arrived and in silence Damon parked the car and escorted her into the hall. Music played, familiar and bittersweet, as he took her hand and they went out to the grounds as they had once before.

They faced each other as the dance dictated that was how they should start. Elena looked at Damon as the pain settled in her heart and she repeated their words from the past but now meaning something entirely different, deeper and tainted with more hurt.

"What are we going to do?" Elena asked hoarsely, tinged with desperation, as she bowed to him, hoping he knew the answer that would save them both.

"Right now we just have to get through this," Damon replied in a low voice that cracked almost imperceptibly, echoing his own words from the past but with an honesty that cut through him worse than a lie.

_I'm dying to catch my breath  
>Oh why don't i ever learn<br>I've lost all my trust  
>Though I've surely tried to turn it around<em>

The near touch, something that both of them knew well. Close enough to make that connection but an invisible wall kept them apart. Elena knew how much they held back before, how much time they wasted and how many lies they lived through that kept them apart when all they wanted was to be together.

They circled each other perfecting the part of the dance that mirrored how they used to be. Damon was more than familiar with being around Elena yet knowing she was too far away to touch. He lived with the feeling of wanting what he couldn't have for so long that for a while it was the only kind of love he knew. It was what he knew and it was safe. The pain of unrequited love was his only friend for a long time.

_Can you still see the heart of me?  
>All my agony fades away<br>When you hold me in your embrace_

And then they stepped into each other's arms and the world fell away once more, just like the first time and just as how it will end. Damon knew that even if the world abandoned him, Elena would still fight to save him. It was as real to him as the feel of her in his arms, matching every step he took as she looked at him like there was nowhere else she would rather be than right there with him.

_Don't tear me down  
>For all I need<br>Make my heart a better place  
>Give me something I can believe<br>Don't tear it down  
>What's left of me<br>Make my heart a better place_

Elena placed her hand in his and her trust along with it. She had lost so much yet the world was not done with her. It was hell-bent on taking even the broken pieces of her and crushing it until she no longer recognized herself. She wanted Damon to save _her_…not her body but the part of her that wanted to live out a future _with _him. Otherwise, it would end much like their dance, they will pull back, and their arms will fall to their sides in defeat as they stare at the chasm of death that separates them.

* * *

><p>Elena stared up at her house at a loss for words, completely raw with emotion as she held on to Damon's hands as she wondered why he brought her here. He led her up to the porch in silence, turning her so that she faced him, keeping her from going inside.<p>

"What are we doing outside? Shouldn't we go in?" Elena said trying to pull her hand away to gesture at the door but Damon held tight, shaking his head slightly.

"This was never really a good place for us, Damon," Elena said when the silence became too heavy to bear.

"We tore down each other a lot here, huh?" Damon said as the memories ripped through him, her words and his screaming in his mind, when even 'good night' became a tired surrender to arguments that left him angry and cold.

"I'd rather not go down that road, Damon," Elena said softly.

Damon reached out and tucked a stray hair behind her ear, "But there was one time that it wasn't so bad…I just wish you were here to see it."

Elena leaned back in surprise, opening her mouth to speak but Damon silenced her with a finger to her lips.

"You know," he started, "I came to this town wanting to destroy it…but I found myself wanting to protect it. How does that happen? I'm not a hero, Elena. I don't do good…it's not in me."

"Maybe it is," Elena heard herself whisper as she reached up to touch his face, feeling his weight of his confession and the truth of how he saw himself.

"No," Damon replied with a faint smile, "That's reserved for my brother, you and Bonnie. Even though she has every reason to hate me…still helped Stefan save me."

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Elena asked taken aback, honestly wondering why it was that Damon failed to see himself clearly, the way she could even when they were barely even friends.

"Because she did it for you," Damon answered, "Which means that somewhere along the way, you decided I was worth saving…and I wanted to thank you for that."

"You're welcome," Elena said, filled with warmth as Damon kissed her lightly on the cheek, pulling back to open the door for her. She watched him, somehow understanding this was the moment Katherine stole from them, wishing she could find the words to tell him that she lied. She would have kissed him back because even then she knew that it would threaten the world as she knew it. She just wasn't ready to take that leap of faith for the right one and now it just feels like she's too late.

"There's one last stop to this tour," Damon said holding the door open and gesturing for her to go inside, "After you, Elena."

Somehow she knew to go to her bedroom, turning on the lights as she went inside, expecting Damon to be behind her. Elena gasped, her hand flying to her chest when she saw him quietly sitting by her window. Instinctively she closed her fist around her necklace but it wasn't there. Instead she watched Damon stand up, his hand extended as he dangled the chain from his fingers.

She reached out to take it from him but he pulled his hand back, "Damon, what is going on?"

Elena watched as Damon's jaw tightened, his internal struggle clear in his eyes, "Elena, do you trust me?"

She nodded, "We wouldn't be here if I didn't…you know that. Damon, what is it? You're scaring me."

"There's something I want to give back to you. Not the necklace," Damon said as he tossed it on the bed, "A memory."

"_Cute PJs," Damon said with a forced smile._

"_I'm tired Damon," Elena said a clipped tone, immediately becoming defensive, the horror of his last unannounced visit crashing in on her._

_He stood up and held out her necklace, "I brought you this," he said as if it were an apology._

"_I thought that was gone," Elena said relieved to find out he actually had a reason to be there, "Thank you."_

_She reached out for it but Damon pulled his hand back, his face filled with regret._

"_Please give it back," Elena said as fear rose in her._

"_I just have to say something," Damon said_

"_Why do you have to say it with my necklace?" Elena argued keeping her voice even and steady_

"_Because what I'm about to say is probably the most selfish thing I've ever said in my life," Damon reasoned._

"_Damon… don't go there," Elena said, taking a deep breath as she shook her head, filled with disbelief that this was all happening._

"_I just have to say it once," Damon said closing the distance between them, making Elena flinch for a second but somehow she held her ground as he continued, "You just need to hear it."_

_Damon nodded as he stared in to her eyes, holding her in the moment with him, wishing she'd believe him._

"_I love you, Elena," he said simply. It was fact. There was no inflection or theatrics that would help explain it better than what it was and as his words settled on Elena, he saw that she understood and it was enough for him to follow through, "And it's because I love you that I can't be selfish with you. Why you can't know this...I don't deserve you. But my brother does."_

_Damon kissed her gently on the forehead, somehow silencing the protest that was already on her lips, making her gasp. He held her face in his hands as he continued, his heart breaking with every word, "God, I wish you didn't have to forget this…but you do."_

Elena gasped for air, catching her breath as if she had just been saved from drowning. She clutched Damon, holding on to him as if the power of the memory was a physical blow. Damon held her steady, his hands leaving her only to pick up the discarded necklace and to place it on her neck, clasping it securely.

"I still believe every word I made you forget," Damon said as he looked at her, "And if I had to do it over I wouldn't change a thing."

"So why did you give it back to me?" Elena said unaware of the tears streaming down her face.

Damon brushed away a tear that rolled directly on his hand as he cupped her face, "Because I'm running out of time and I need to tell you in as many ways I can how much I love you."

A sob escaped her and she couldn't stop once it started, finding it hard to breathe as she cried for all the wasted chances and the hopelessness that surrounded her. Damon held her close to him, saying nothing because he knew there was no comfort even in lies.

When finally she felt there were no more tears to cry, she looked up at him and kissed him with everything she had, her lips molding into his with the heat of desperation, fear and the love she took to long to recognize. Elena pulled back breathless, "I will fight even_ you_ to save your life. I love you, Damon. I hope that's reason enough to keep trying, to keep living."

Damon closed his eyes in pain, his lips tightly closed as he swallowed the lump in his throat. "I wish it were," he said as he kissed her lightly on the forehead, "Good night, Elena. I love you."

Elena blinked and she was alone. She reached up and touched the cold pendant that lay on her chest as she watched the curtains flutter in the open window.

Damon was gone.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: The song in this chapter is All I Need by Within Temptation. Hope you enjoyed this update! :) **_


	7. Chapter 7: Silence

**Impossible**

**Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners.**

**Chapter 7: Silence**

Damon was no stranger to pain and his default was always to switch it off. But as he walked away from Elena he realized he lost the will to do it. He couldn't do anything but walk through the storm and find a way to get to the other side without her.

He closed his eyes and just ran. Damon stripped away everything but his instincts to exist even for awhile just as the vampire that he is. It was the closest he could get to numbing himself so that he wouldn't run right back to Elena. It was a test of self-control that he couldn't afford to fail. He needed to see it through because it wasn't just his life on the line.

Damon stopped when he was at the door of the old house, the site of the witches' death. He could feel their growing unease at his presence and their desire for him to leave. But it had the opposite effect on Damon and he snapped.

Blinded by misdirected rage, Damon kicked the door in with a roar. He picked up the fallen door and threw it to the wall in defiance, incensing the witches. He stormed towards the room where Bonnie did her ritual, over the ground where the witches actually perished years before. He went to stand in the middle and raised his arms to the side, unwanted tears streaming down his eyes, "Are you happy now? Isn't this what you wanted? Well, I'm right here bitches. I'm suffering, the kind where I want to claw my own heart because it hurts. It hurts. It hurts…"

Damon fell to his knees and hung his head as he wallowed in his agony. "Why did she come into my life and make me love her if it was never going to last? Why didn't you just leave things alone Anna? Why did you have to make things impossible for everyone else just because you never worked out your own happy ending? Elena had nothing to do with your mistakes, Anna. It's not her fault you didn't know how to love."

The sound of shattering glass barely registered in his ears but he felt every shard that pierced through his skin as Anna's wrath rained on him. Damon let out a maniacal laugh that was both harsh and heartbreaking as it turned into sobs.

"I can't even feel that anymore, Anna," Damon said fiercely, "I'm too far gone to feel."

"Then why are you here?" Anna said coldly, her disembodied voice echoing inside the room.

"Because there's a huge, gaping hole in your sacrifice story," Damon said standing up, "I sacrifice myself to seal the curse forever but there's no mention of how to make sure Klaus doesn't kill Elena after I die. What I do won't incapacitate him because I'm just him as the vampire he already is, someone more than capable of killing Elena and everyone else in sight. And then it will all just be in vain. Did you really think I wouldn't figure that out? Tell me, Anna, why do you want Elena dead?"

Anna appeared, materializing but no more substantial than smoke. Damon should have expected it but he still blinked in surprise as he took in how she looked exactly like Elena.

"I don't." Anna said quietly, "But I knew you would think that way and come find me. There's something I left out because it wouldn't be wise to give Elena false hope."

Damon's head snapped back at that statement, "Are you saying I can survive? That we can come out of this?"

Anna nodded but her face was grim, "I wouldn't count on it and even if you do make it, you'd have done so much damage that she might hate you enough to kill you herself. You are right to grieve, Damon, because this is the end of your story with her in more ways than one."

"But Klaus dies?" Damon asked focused only on that goal.

"Yes." Anna answered looking him straight in the eyes, "He will die. Elena will live. She will be safe. Everyone she loves except for you will get through this."

"That's good enough for me," Damon said with a shrug, determined but defeated all in the same tragic moment.

Anna rewarded him with a pained smile as she leaned forward to whisper in his ear. Damon's eyes closed as he took in the weight of her words and the consequences of choosing to see them come to life. He struggled to make sense of it all, the madness they were born to and why they seemed to be destined for nothing but despair.

"I'm sorry," Anna said as she finished, kissing him lightly on the cheek, chilling him through to his core, "I wasn't brave enough to love when I had the chance."

"Then I guess I have to be brave enough for the two of us," Damon said in a hollow voice as Anna vanished from sight, leaving him in the empty room with only his shadow for company.

* * *

><p>It was ironic that when she finally wanted to do the right thing, Katherine felt powerless. She wanted to do something to keep Klaus locked up but she froze. She struggled with the horror and the burning desire to get the hell out as she watched Greta and Maddox kneel before the case that held Klaus' real body. Alaric had already slumped to the floor and Katherine knew it was only a matter of time before he emerges.<p>

Bile rose in her throat as she remembered the man she thought she once loved, the very same one who wanted her dead. Misplaced trust and her own naïve perceptions kept her from seeing things as they truly were, from seeing that she had gone too far and fell from the wrong man. Instead she piled on mistake after mistake until she was only a shell of her former self.

She ran from it all, losing track of the days as they bled into each other and the years just drowned in the trail of blood she left whenever she moved from one town to the next. Katherine in her fear of Klaus came closer to becoming the same monster the farther she distanced herself from him. But everything changed in Mystic Falls and she suddenly had something to run to….someone.

The chanting grew louder and the flames started to flicker brighter with every second that passed but they were lost on Katherine as her head spun with her realize that she was so close to dying and her lies brought her no comfort. But what paralyzed her was the possibility of having to watch Stefan slaughtered by Klaus. It was something she never prepared for and yet with every second it's closer to becoming a reality. She opened her mouth to protest but she was suddenly thrown backwards. Katherine slammed against the wall behind her and was left disoriented for a few seconds before she realized the case had blasted open and Klaus' body lay facedown on the ground, seemingly lifeless next to Alaric.

Greta stood up, staggering slightly as she pointed an accusing finger at Bonnie who stood in the doorway with Damon and Elijah behind her. She kicked Maddox, forcing him awake but he was already dead.

"What have you done?" Greta said weakly as blood dripped steadily from her forehead.

Bonnie merely held up her hand in response and instantly Greta crumpled to the ground in pain, howling as she went down.

"They tried so hard set you free but it seems you never needed saving," Bonnie spat out as she stepped over Greta, dagger in one hand and the other pointing at the door, "The seal is down, you can come in."

Elijah stepped over the threshold and swept the room with his eyes, lingering only where Katherine cowered in shock. "Well, no use wasting time here, Damon. Pick up the teacher and Katerina. We must go."

"She's your regret, not mine, so you take care of Katherine and I'll handle the teacher." Damon said crossing the room to where Alaric lay, checking his pulse, "Bonnie, did they complete it?"

Bonnie shook her head as she raised the dagger and plunged it through Klaus' heart, sending a ripple of power through the room as she said an incantation. The body exploded in a shower of fire and ash, blinding them all for a few seconds. Elijah blocked Katherine from the explosion, half dragging her out when it settled, commanding the rest of them to do the same.

"Now, Bonnie," Damon said with urgency, simultaneously lifting Alaric to drink his blood, "You know what needs to be done. Do it."

For a moment, Bonnie looked like she wouldn't do it but her hesitation vanished when she remembered that this was their best hope of closing this chapter forever. She raised her voice and spoke the words that forced Damon apart from Alaric, with the vampire convulsing in pain until he stood completely still. Damon had his eyes closed as he remained immobile. Katherine gasped, recognizing the words, the stance and everything flashing back to something she witnessed in recent history.

"No!" Greta screamed as she realized what was happening, recovering slightly as Bonnie directed her energy towards Damon, "You don't know what you're doing!"

"Elijah, take Alaric, get him out of here," Bonnie ordered as she brought Greta down once more.

Katherine moved to go back inside, alarmed with what was happening even if she couldn't fully connect the pieces just yet. "No, Katerina," Elijah said sounding unsure himself as he supported Alaric, "Let this play out."

"No, no, no," Katherine muttered to herself, sick with fear as she watched Damon finally lift his head and open his eyes. She stared at his face hoping she was wrong, that she could still find the man she broke with her selfishness. For the first time in her life, Katherine wanted to see Damon but she was too little, too late.

He wasn't there. Not anymore.

"Run," Bonnie said in a low but commanding voice, "_Now."_

Bonnie threw up an invisible wall between them before anyone could react and she fled after them.

Damon merely stood there and calmly watched them leave, making no attempt to follow them. After a few seconds he sat down and stared at Greta as she struggled to get up. He flexed his fingers in front of him before crossing his arms against his chest as Greta found her bearings.

"Not what I expected," he said calmly, "But it will do. I'm disappointed in you, Greta. You failed."

"I'm sorry," she said fearfully, "I didn't know…she found the power first. I thought they wouldn't find it…I'll do better. I'll—"

"Your words mean nothing to me," Damon said in a low voice, "But you have one chance to redeem yourself. Bring the doppelganger to me. _Go._"

* * *

><p>Elena stood across the room from Stefan as they stared at each other in silence. She already lost count of the hours that they stayed that way since she returned sans Damon. Both of them still in disbelief at the choice Damon made. Elena wanted to find Damon and just run away with him. It was a dream that haunted her but she would always go back to her brother, her aunt and all her friends, so many people she loved that needed to be spared from a fate so undeserved. She knew one of them had to take the fall, she even understood it but it didn't mean it wasn't tearing her apart. She wanted to keep looking, trying other ways but time was never on their side.<p>

Stefan wanted to go to Elena and just put his arms around her. It didn't matter that she made her choice between him and Damon. He just wanted to let her cry even just a little while, let her release even just a fraction of the darkness that was eating her up inside. Stefan wanted to take his brother's place, somehow take himself out of the equation and give his brother the life he forcibly took from him when they were in transition. But all he could do was look at her and know they were both broken inside.

"Elena," Stefan started but never finished as Katherine entered the room, looking distraught and disturbed— a rare occurrence that surprised them all.

Elijah deposited Alaric on the couch before facing off with Bonnie, ignoring everyone in the room, "I do not appreciate secrets and lies, witch. Do you realize what you've done?"

"I don't owe you anything, Elijah," Bonnie said not backing down, "I did what I had to do for the people I love. This is how it is supposed to play out."

"What are you talking about, Bonnie?" Elena said snapping out of her stupor, "What happened?"

Bonnie's expression softened as she turned to her friend, placing a hand on Elena's arm comfortingly, "I'm sorry but it had to be done."

"What had to be done, Bonnie?" Elena asked yanking her arm away, dread creeping up on her, sensing somehow that something had gone horribly wrong in her world.

A shrill ring interrupted them, making Elena jump before she realized it was her phone that was making the noise.

"Elena?" Jenna's voice came through the line, sounding completely worried, "I'm with Damon and he said you're in some kind of trouble. Where are you?"

"Jenna?" Elena said into the receiver, "What do you mean Damon is with you? I'm fine…I'm here at his house. Where are you?"

Suddenly the line went silent and the only thing Elena heard was a loud thud before Damon's voice came on the line, "Hello, Elena. I'm sorry but Jenna heard me wrong. I told her she was in trouble…not you. My bad."

"Damon…" Elena said as her heart sped into overdrive as she exchanged a glance with Bonnie, who mouthed an apology to her, "What…?"

"I really think you should come and get Jenna," he said casually, "She doesn't look so good. I don't think she's going to make it. I keep telling Greta to do something but she's not good with instructions apparently since she brought me Jenna. Not exactly what I asked for but I can work with what I'm given."

"Where are you?" Elena asked hoarsely, her heart slamming against her chest as the truth settled on her painfully, breaking her in ways she never thought possible.

"At your house," he replied calmly.

"Why?" Elena said out loud to no one and everyone, at a complete loss as she tried to comprehend what was happening.

"I'm curious about that as well but it's not important to me right now," he said, "I'm waiting, Elena. I'm so excited to see you. Aren't you?"

"No, never…Klaus," Elena said in a hollow voice as she realize how right she was when she said the name out loud.

Damon's laughter rang in Elena's ear, hurting her to know it wasn't really his. "Very good, Elena. You're much more intelligent than I gave you credit for. Now, one more thing…come alone."

Elena heard the click when the call ended but she kept it close to her ear, somehow hoping that it wasn't real. She wanted to hold on a few more seconds because just maybe it was all just a bad dream. But from the tears fell from her face, the ones that matched Bonnie's and the look of horror on Stefan's face, she knew she needed to stop lying to herself because for all intents and purposes, Damon is dead.

Elena felt the overwhelming sorrow wash over her only for a second before she blacked out and fell into Stefan's waiting arms. But it didn't comfort her like it used to because she chose to not to feel as she gave in to the darkness that waited for her with open arms. Her last thought fell out of her lips like a wish that never have an answer.

_"I love you, Damon."_


	8. Chapter 8: Control

**Impossible**

**Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners.**

**Chapter 8: Control**

Klaus threw the phone at the wall the second he found the will to end the call. He growled at the smashed remains of the device, finding it maddening that the doppelganger affected him. He held his head with both hands and howled with frustration.

He could feel Damon in his head, in every part of him, even if the other one kept silent in a corner of his mind. It was something unexpected for Klaus. It wasn't supposed to be this way. His host was supposed to be dormant and a complete slave to his presence, but this was different. Klaus could _feel_ every damn instinctive reaction of Damon's body, every emotion even if he didn't understand the motivations. He felt insanely protective of the woman he just spoke to even if his mind kept telling him that her life meant nothing. Elena is the sacrifice, end of story. Yet, somehow, Klaus could not write her off because every cell in his body rebelled against the thought.

In his mind he yelled at Damon, swore at him and tried to forcibly push him out but he found himself running circles as his enemy remained completely impassive. Klaus could feel Damon's silence was intentional. Klaus felt he was being watched and that Damon was plotting, waiting for the right moment…for something. In a fit of rage, Klaus punched through the wall and watched Damon's hand bleed then heal, no pain penetrating his intended victim.

Klaus wanted to beat out the emotions that lingered in his undead heart. It felt unnatural to him and prevented him from adapting to his new form. His desire to succeed was slowly being matched by the need to see Elena unhurt, the thirst for power drowning in a sea of confusion and the only thing he could see clearly was her face.

He shook his head violently as he continued to pace in the living room of Elena's home. It didn't take a genius to unravel Damon's motivations for what he had the witch do. Somehow, Damon would sacrifice himself to seal the curse and since Klaus was in there with him, they would both die. Elena will be saved, as everyone else will be. Klaus understood it was risky at best and had a very slim chance of success but he had to recognize the sheer brilliance and how it tied up loose ends quite nicely. But this isn't what astounded him. He knew somewhere down the line someone will come close to cheating him of his destiny. He just never anticipated that he could actually lose.

Klaus growled as he cast out the idea from his head in an effort to convince himself that there was no threat to his success. He just needed to make sure that this body won't betray him, not now when he was so close. He glanced at Jenna's body that was draped unceremoniously across the sofa, her chest rising and falling as she remained completely unaware of the danger she was in. Klaus clenched his fists as he felt a wave of concern and the urge to protect another one of Elena's loved ones. He looked away sharply focusing on a random point in the room until he managed to drown out and switch off all his emotions.

But even in his stillness, Klaus felt himself answering to desires that weren't his own. Conscious but somehow just an observer to his actions, he found his feet taking steps one after the other up the stairs, stopping only when it arrived at its destination.

He made an irritated noise as he stood in the middle of the room, speaking to a man he knew would never respond, "Your impulses are very annoying, Damon. But I'll play just this once. Let's have a look, shall we?"

Klaus looked around Elena's room, picking up random things—a stuffed bear, trinkets and pictures of her family. He frowned as he held Elena's picture in his hand, scrutinizing it and finding nothing special about her other than the fact that she was a doppelganger. There was nothing that suggested to Klaus why the people around her displayed such unfailing loyalty. He could not understand the lengths they would go for her. He didn't understand why they can't just give her up. But most of all, Klaus could not understand how Damon's love could be so cripplingly powerful.

Another low growl escaped him as he remembered the feeling that almost knocked him off his feet when he heard Elena's voice on the line. It was almost inexplicable that he felt so connected to her when Damon's consciousness was shut down. Damon's body was functioning but only under Klaus' direction. He wasn't _there. _Be that as it may, Klaus had to fight his way through their brief exchange to lure her out so they can begin the ritual and maybe then end this madness once and for all.

He crumpled the photograph in his hand and moved to throw it to the ground but something stopped him. Instead he smoothed it out again and left it where he found it, bestowing on it a final glance before leaving the bedroom, feeling a pang of guilt as he walked out.

"I don't know what kind of spell your witch cast, Damon," Klaus whispered, "But I will win this. I will bear even your pain of watching her die a thousand deaths if it means I break this curse. Count on it."

But even as he said it, Klaus felt his doubts confirmed…there is a chance he won't succeed because already he was already fighting a losing battle of not falling in love with Elena.

* * *

><p>Elena stood in front of her own home, unsure of whether she should take the next step or not. She fought to come here, alone as Klaus asked. Echoes of their arguments and explanations bounced around in her head. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she recalled Bonnie's tearful apology and the message from Anna that gave her the tiniest bit of hope.<p>

Anna drove Damon to the pits of despair to test him, to find out if his love would be enough that they would have this chance to survive. She knew all along that to save Elena, Damon's sacrifice required him to be possessed by Klaus. This meant that Damon will have to fight his way through that invasion of his existence and the only anchor that will keep him from completely going under would be his love for Elena—IF it were strong enough. Then at the last moment, he will be able to drain whatever part of Klaus is in him and let the curse die along with him. But of course, Damon could very well lose himself before it got that far or even if he managed to get to that point…the ritual may just kill him too.

Elena pulled out her house key from her pocket and took a deep breath as she started walking towards the door. She held on to Anna's words, trying to keep from falling apart and believing that all was not yet lost. She tried to prepare herself mentally, telling herself that she had to stay focused and get Jenna out. For now, that was the only thing she had to do and she prayed that everything else will just fall into place.

She took a deep breath and tried to block out what she really wanted to do, which was to get Klaus out of Damon. Elena wanted to talk to Damon and just let him know that she will be with him on this. She wanted another day with him, another week and a lifetime of moments to create and recreate without any of this hanging over their heads. She just wanted _him._

Elena put the key in the lock but before she could turn the knob, the door swung open and he stood before her, looking every bit the man she fell in love with. Her mouth fell open slightly as she stared at him, unaware of anything but the look he gave her, as if he felt everything that was going through her that same moment.

"Elena," Klaus said in Damon's voice, shattering the moment. Elena thought she heard a pained sigh escape him as he said her name but she dismissed it and went inside instead.

"Where is Jenna, Klaus?" Elena forced herself to say, choosing to regard him as he was at the moment. She looked at everything but him, finding it easier to keep it together if she pretended he wasn't really there.

Elena didn't need his response. She found her aunt in the living room, pale and unconscious. Elena knelt beside Jenna and shook her aunt gently. "What did you do to her?" Elena demanded before turning to Jenna again, "Wake up, Jenna. Wake up."

"She won't wake up…at least not yet." Klaus said, finally deigning to speak, "Greta has her under a spell, one that she will lift only at my command. Sit, Elena. We have much to discuss."

"No, let her go now. I'm here. You don't need her," Elena said standing and walking up to face him squarely, "_Please."_

Elena watched Klaus visibly struggle with how to respond. She saw flashes of pain, anger and pure hatred cross his features. Klaus remained silent as he stared at Elena, not trusting himself to speak because it might not be his words that come out of his traitorous mouth.

"Please," Elena repeated gently, "Please let her go."

Without intending it, his expression softened and Elena seized her chance and closed the distance between them so she could place her hand on his arm. Klaus pulled back as if her touch burned him, stepping back from her to restore the space between them.

Elena's mouth fell open slightly in surprise, her mind racing with the possibilities as hope sparked in her, finally letting go of all her doubts of what Anna got them into. With newfound courage she surged forward once more, and took his hand in both of hers, "Please, I'll stay…just let her go."

He didn't pull back this time. Elena watched his jaw clench tightly as he stared into her eyes, their blue depths stormy and almost impossible to read. But she held on, trusting her instinct that she had broken through somehow. Elena saw that he fought to appear calm even as he wanted to be angry with her and lash out.

"Fine," he replied hoarsely, the fight gone from his eyes, "Greta, take her and bring her safely to her nephew."

Elena noted how he worded his instructions and the surprise of the witch who appeared to have been watching them all this time from a corner in the room. Greta looked like she wanted to question Klaus but instead she chose to just carry out the order. She raised her hand and Jenna followed the motion like a puppet on a string, standing up clumsily with her eyes closed before walking out with Greta blindly.

Elena watched them go distrustfully until Klaus placed his free hand on top of hers and slowly released hers, squeezing first before completely letting go, "She'll be okay. Believe it or not, Elijah is not the only one who can keep his word."

She watched him sigh tiredly as he sat down in a chair, motioning for her to do the same, "Sit, Elena. We're going to be here quite awhile so you might as well get comfortable."

Elena sat down across from him, wondering how much she could get away with given his state, "Talk, I'm listening."

His blue eyes glared at her, "I can see you're enjoying how difficult your boyfriend is making my existence at this moment. I assure you, it is only an inconvenience and it won't be enough to keep me from my purpose."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Elena asked brazenly as Klaus suddenly gripped the side of the chair tightly, almost to the point of crushing it, "I'm defenseless and I'm willing. Let's end this."

Enraged, Klaus screamed and rushed Elena, pinning her against the wall by the neck, breathing harshly on her as he whispered, "Do not push me, Elena. I know who I am and wearing this body doesn't change the fact that I can kill you where you stand…and if I have to I will start bleeding you out right now so that only one drop is left in you by the time we start the sacrifice. Do you understand me?"

Elena stared into his eyes defiantly, "No."

"How dare y—" Klaus started but he was interrupted by Elena kissing him, their anger melting into each other as their lips moved together in perfect time. His hand fell away from her neck and found its way to her face, responding fully to her touch now and forgetting completely every evil he intended to do with her. The only thing that mattered was this moment.

And then something changed. Elena pulled back and watched him blinked several times in shock. His hands cupped her face as his forehead touched hers and he breathed out one word, "Elena."

Her eyes widened in surprise, "Damon!"

He breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled her in a tight embrace, "Elena, I'm so sorry. I can't…I couldn't do anything…I saw everything. I'm so sorry."

"Shhh...it's okay, Damon." Elena said as she smiled through unbidden tears, "We'll get through this. I promise you. This will work."

Damon pulled away from her and brushed a strand of hair from her face, "We don't have much time. You're going to have to pretend this didn't happen…that I wasn't able to break through. He needs to believe he's in control or at least getting better at it. Okay?"

Elena nodded silently, trying to memorize how he looked at her, the way only he could and how she knew that it was really him. She looked at him curiously when one side of his mouth turned up in a familiar smirk.

"I can't believe you kissed him," Damon said shaking his head, still finding a way to make light of the situation, "I should be jealous you know."

"It worked didn't it? I drew you out, didn't I?" Elena said matching his smile with a pained one of her own, knowing the reunion won't last.

He took a deep breath before closing the distance between them again, his fingers tracing the side of her face, "One more for the road?" he said as he lowered his lips to hers, a farewell that felt bittersweet and tragic.

Elena noticed the change, it was subtle but it was there, and the second she felt it she pushed herself away from him. She wiped her mouth disgustedly, tears still streaming down her face, as she glared at him.

The blue eyes that had looked at her lovingly just a few seconds ago now seemed like they belonged to a stranger. It spoke of arrogance and a triumph that could not be concealed.

"Did you really think that this was a fairy tale and true love's kiss can solve everything?" he taunted Elena as she turned away from him.

He didn't remember. Elena turned away from him so he wouldn't see her reaction. She didn't know how long she could keep in the dark so she opted to just get away from him. Klaus watched Elena storm up the stairs and then listened to her slam the door to her room. He wasn't worried she would leave. Greta had made sure that once she walked in, she wouldn't be able to leave. No, that wasn't what troubled him. Involuntarily, his fingers reached up to touch his lips and he closed his eyes as desire swept through him.

He felt her kiss and it still lingered like fire on his lips. He wanted it because his body longed for it. He hated it. He hated Damon and most of all he hated Elena.

"So this is what love feels like," Klaus whispered softly as he looked out the window, watching as a car pulled up in front of the house, "How unfortunate it won't be enough."

He walked calmly to the door and opened it, "You're late," he said by way of greeting.

"And you're in the wrong body," the woman said as she came up the steps, "He's in the car. I made him drink the potion just like you asked. He should be up in time for the ritual."

"It seems you're the only one who hasn't disappointed me today," he said as he held the door for her, "and you're supposed to be the one I can't trust."

Jules stopped to face him, leaning in closely as she whispered in his ear, "You still shouldn't. But you made me an offer I just couldn't refuse. You'd be wise not to disappoint _me_ on that, son of Alexander."

Klaus merely smiled, "I wouldn't dare deceive Dimitri's daughter. This is our legacy, our curse to break, so for now we are allies, _cousin_."


	9. Chapter 9: Twisted

**Impossible **

**A/N: Been so long, sorry about that. Anyway, here's a long update and I hope you enjoy. Looking forward to getting this story back on track :)  
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**Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners.**

**Chapter 9: Twisted**

Elena slammed the door, her heart pounding loudly in her chest as the walls reverberated with the force. She needed Klaus to think she was angry—at least enough to be afforded a few minutes alone.

She placed her palm flat on her chest, willing her heart to calm down as she strained to listen for approaching footsteps. She exhaled with relief when all she heard was the click on the lock of the front door downstairs. She blocked out the curiosity that sprang to her mind about the new arrival but she had not the luxury of time to waste, not if she wanted to get through this.

"_Listen carefully," Anna said through Bonnie, "The ring that Damon wears, the one that protects him from the sun, you need it if you hope to save him."_

The words flitted through her mind as she shakily opened her palm to reveal the ring, wondering if Klaus noticed its absence. For a fleeting second, she was relieved that Klaus was in Damon's body. He still seemed uncomfortable in the new skin he wore, making him less aware of the smaller things. At least, Elena hoped he didn't notice.

"_Do you still have the necklace? The one that the other brother gave you?" Anna asked with a wistful note in her voice when Elena pulled out the pendant Stefan gave her from under her shirt, "Alexander gave that to me. I always meant to return it to him but I never did. I could not part with it, even in death. Part of me resides in that necklace, Elena, and it always finds it way to the doppelganger. It found you."_

With her free hand, Elena yanked the pendant from her neck, allowing the clasp to break. Both objects felt cold and heavy in her hands, though deceptively small and harmless. She took a deep breath and sat down on the floor, her back to the door as she began chanting, words that felt foreign on her tongue but felt home to her soul, calling to whatever was left of Damon's essence.

"_Bind him to you, Elena," Anna said, continuing only once Elena nodded, "If he succeeds in destroying Klaus, then he will live if he is tied to your existence. Do not take it lightly. It will only work if you love each other enough to forge such a connection. But it means means he cannot exist without you or away from you. From that point on, he will only cease to exist when you perish …and the other way around."_

"_You're saying if he fails," Elena said quietly, "I will die. We both will."_

"_Yes."_

"_Tell me how it can be done," Elena said resolutely ignoring the doubts that slowly began to creep through her mind. _

"_Elena, listen to me, this cannot be undone," Anna said, "There is no spell or magic that can unravel this. So I ask you, are you willing to risk being with Damon even if he's done unspeakable things, whether as Klaus or as himself. You may not even recognize him anymore. And it is not only a question of whether you can forgive him for it to have him by your side but if he can do the same for himself if he makes it through. Will you still want him if he's no longer the same man? He will be broken, Elena. If Damon never recovers from all of this, can you still honestly say you're willing to face an eternity with him?"_

"_I'll take my chances," Elena said with steely determination, "It's better than nothing. I have to try, Anna. Please."_

"_I admire you, Elena," Anna said softly, "for fighting. I always wrote it off as impossible and moved on. I guess I never really did and my curse made sure no one else did."_

_Elena smiled sadly, "Damon _is_ impossible. He defies reason and any rule he comes across. I just learned from the best. He would do the same for me. He already did. Letting Klaus use him, believing it will kill him, banished any doubt I had about his love for me. There is no moving on from that, from him."_

_After a beat, Anna continued, "I will tell you how to do the binding but a word of caution— you cannot tell Damon you are doing this. Even if by some miracle you get through to him, you cannot trust that information to be so close to the enemy. You will have to risk Damon not knowing that he needs to fight for this to work. Because if Klaus finds out…"_

The door opened with a loud bang, making Elena jump up, barely able to conceal the necklace and the ring in her pocket.

"Jumpy, aren't we?" Klaus said calmly, his eyes betraying his suspicion as he surveyed the room with narrowed eyes, "I can hardly believe that you've been meditating all this time. Not your style, Elena. Is there something you would like to tell me?"

Elena shook her head, not trusting to herself to speak, hoping that Klaus wouldn't notice the tiny bump the necklace made on the pocket of her jeans. She kept both her hands balled into fists, the ring secure in the left one.

Klaus stepped closer to Elena and bent towards her, close enough for their foreheads to be short of an inch apart. "You lie."

He trailed a finger down her left arm with a touch so light that her body shivered instinctively. Klaus stopped at her wrist and closed his own hand over hers, breaking eye contact when he finally pried open her palm, Damon's ring squarely in the middle.

"I expected more from you, Elena," Klaus said, his tone menacingly calm, "Did you think defeating me will be as simple as leaving me unprotected from the sun in this weak body? Your flaw, my love, is that you assume this curse will hold me until sunrise. Although, I do applaud the small victory in stealing this in the first place, I'm afraid it does little to help your cause. Now, go downstairs, be a good doppelganger and make sure Jules doesn't get carried away and bleed Tyler to death before it's time. We do need him alive at midnight for this to work you know. Run along now."

Elena's veins turned to ice at the mention of Tyler, knowing with finality that things have begun. She shook her head and moved to leave, turning around at the last second, "How can you be so heartless? It means nothing to you whether people live or die as long as you win. It's all just a game, getting inside our heads, controlling us. What for, Klaus? After this, then what? Immortality, power, invincibility? It will mean nothing, Klaus, if there's no one left but you."

Klaus threw ring at her, growling as he fought the impulse to reach out for Elena and hold her to him. Elena flinched expecting it to hit but the ring landed harmlessly on the floor next to her feet. She blinked in mild surprise, searching for Damon but the blue eyes held only fury and the malice of Klaus. Shaking her head in disappointment she ran down the steps in search of Tyler, hoping Klaus was bluffing.

Klaus closed his eyes briefly, pinching the bridge of his nose, which did little to ease his headache. He played back the scene in his mind, noting how she reacted to his mild weakness. Klaus did not miss. He was incapable of such a flaw. No. So the only logical conclusion was that he aimed to miss. He couldn't hurt her and yet in a matter of hours, he was supposed to bleed her to death.

"You're not the only one trying to save something, Elena," Klaus said to the empty room, "And that is not nothing."

He walked over to the door and picked up the ring, "It will mean _everything _because if it plays out as I intended, I won't be alone. I never will be again."

* * *

><p><em>Turning off emotions was something humans could do to a certain extent, and for vampires they simply did it better, longer. But it was impossible to do it forever. Slowly, with time, it would creep up on them. Anna made sure of that. She wanted misery to find them, guilt to run after them, until every face of those the killed was burned into their minds and turned them into muted versions of the greatness they were meant to be.<em>

_Klaus resented weakness. Of his family, he was the one who reveled most in being a vampire. He viewed it as a priceless legacy that his father chose to gift his children with—strength beyond imagining and power over even death. But then it was also his father that turned all of it into a curse. Tainting everything with a sense of humanity that struggled with the perfect monster that lived inside him. It was for this reason that he murdered Alexander and Dimitri, along with any other who opposed him. He hunted down the wolves through the centuries, driving them to hide from his mad rampage. Even his own family was not spared. Any misstep was punished with death until only Elijah was left._

_Together they went in search of answers. For decades, they found nothing, not even a whisper of what could break the curse. He searched for witches, shaman, anyone who had any idea of what kind of magic Anna summoned. He tortured them or lavished them with gifts but it all ended the same way— death. It was dealt swiftly the moment Klaus would realize that they did not have what he sought._

_In despair, he drove even Elijah away, the only family he ever really trusted. Frustrated, he told his brother to leave and not come back without any answers or the price will be his life. Klaus lived as a recluse in that period, plotting, always plotting his way out of his cursed existence. _

_By some twist of fate, it was when he stopped looking that he found his answer—the first doppelganger._

_Klaus relived the memory in his mind, watching his former body stalk towards the incessant pounding on his front door, determined to kill whoever stood behind it. _

_He pulled open the door, just as the woman was about to knock again, making her lose her balance and fall straight into Klaus. Fuming, he took her roughly by the shoulders and held her away. His eyes widened in alarm, wondering why Anna, his father's former love, had come to haunt him. He wondered briefly if he had completely lost his sanity until the woman spoke._

"_Please, sir, you must help me," the woman said, trembling in his grip, her fear clear in her brown eyes, "I…I'm being chased….these men…they…please, sir. Help me."_

_It was then that Klaus finally took a good look at her. Beyond the resemblance, he saw that her face showed the early signs of bruising and that her wrists were swollen, marred by angry red rings, a finger twisted at an odd angle. Most importantly, he heard a heartbeat. This…whoever she was…she was human. She was not Anna._

"_Of course," Klaus said, hiding his surprise at the sincerity he heard in his voice, something he never believed himself capable of unless he was threatening someone, "Come in. You're safe here."_

_He guided her to the chair by the fire, letting go only to search for a blanket and water. Klaus waited for her to calm down, drinking in her features, part of him waiting for the other shoe to drop. It had to be some form of sorcery, he was sure but that thought was obliterated the second she spoke again._

"_Thank you," she murmured softly, staring into the fire, watching the flames dance as if they were the most mesmerizing sight in the world. "If it's alright, kind sir, I seek shelter until daybreak. I should be in a better position to….to outrun them and find my family…if they are still alive."_

_Klaus moved to kneel before her, "What is your name?"_

"_Elena." _

_Klaus' undead heart twisted inside him as a shot of pure pain coursed through him as continued to watch the scene unfold, the name echoing through every part of him, consuming his memories and every other conscious thought. He listened as the name was spoken aloud by the man he used to be, the name held with reverence on his lips as if it were a secret he would like to keep close._

"_Elena, these men…they did this to you?" Klaus said reaching out to touch her face but letting his hand drop when he saw her stiffen at the gesture. _

_She nodded mutely, looking away once more, "I slipped away…that is what matters. They didn't…they weren't able to…touch me."_

_The assurance fell on deaf ears. Rage filled Klaus, a familiar companion to him through the years and yet he sensed something different with it this time. It came from a different place, strange and unsettling. Without thinking he wiped a tear from her face, and a wave of protectiveness washed over him when she looked at him, utterly defenseless. It was the first time since he was turned that he looked at a human and didn't think of blood. Elena was a stranger with a familiar face but only saw someone who needed him._

_He stood up and made his decision then to avenge her, wanting to channel his wrath into some form of destruction. "Which direction did you come from? Do you know where they might search for you? Anything that will tell us where they are now?"_

"_No!" Elena gasped, her fragile hand finding his, clutching it with desperation, "Please sir, there is no need. There are too many of them…you…you have much to allow me in your home. Please. You may get hurt or worse…please, sir. It is safer if we let them go."_

_The lines on his face relaxed with every second she held onto his hand, somehow calming him until the desire to leave her dissipated completely. His mind eventually agreed with her logic, accepting that it was unwise to leave her unprotected. _

"_Klaus," he said, "Call me Klaus."_

* * *

><p>Klaus punched the wall, a shower of plaster and wood falling to the floor. He stared at the hole he created, then at the hand that was now adorned by the ring that Elena had stolen earlier.<p>

Elena.

He howled angrily, hitting the wall again before turning around and slamming his entire body against it, shaking the entire panel. He slid down and sat with his head in his hands, frustrated with the emotions that swirled through him. He couldn't decipher anymore if they were remnants of what Damon's body felt for Elena or if his past was finally catching up to him.

The moment he got wind of the latest doppelganger's name, Klaus knew this was his last chance to succeed or lose everything, all or nothing. He laughed bitterly as her name ran through his mind, the same face that haunted his undead existence, and that somehow in a thousand years he found himself wanting to believe that _his_ Elena came back to him.

But he knew that was impossible because he still remembered how she died in his arms and whispered words that tormented him every second since.

"_I thought you loved me. I was wrong."_

* * *

><p><em>Damon watched as Klaus stood flipping through memories like pages of a book. His face was drawn and ashen with anguish written all over him as he watched his past self with a version of Elena. Damon listened as a duet of laughter filled the air, uncorrupted by any evil, washed clean somehow by whatever it was that connected the young couple before them. Apart they stood, letting the recollection play out to its conclusion.<em>

_They watched as a younger Klaus finally caught up with a breathless Elena, both of them tumbling to the ground when he wrapped his arms on her waist, causing another round of laughter. Minutes passed before they both calmed down, a comfortable silence settling between them with Elena pressing her ears to his chest as they lay beneath the sun watching clouds pass by._

"_Still looking for a heartbeat?" Klaus said cautiously, a hint of a challenge in the question._

"_Yes," Elena said smiling to herself, "It still surprises me you do not have one."_

"_Do you think less of me for not having one? Do you think me a monster?"_

"_It matters not, Klaus," Elena said pulling herself up, tilting her head at him, the mood shifting subtly to a territory they have not yet breached till that moment._

_Elena took a deep breath and placed her hand on his chest, "The men…those who hurt...those who chased me…I heard their rapid heartbeats, how it fueled them with such malice. It is not a sound that comforts me, Klaus, and it does not prove the goodness of a man. The silence of yours will not decide who you are to me. Saving my life that day, caring for me every day since…" Elena used her free hand to place his over her own heart, "I fell in love with a man not a monster, Klaus."_

_Damon felt everything that Klaus was feeling, both the agony of the man he knew as the most feared vampire in the world and the one that held the woman that could have been his redemption. If not for that, he would have laughed at anyone who dared tell him that Klaus was capable of love. But it was there, pure and overwhelming, somehow allowing him to reconcile both versions of the Klaus he knew. _

_The scene transformed before Damon could make anything of what he saw, but he felt sensed the beginnings of a theory on Klaus' true intentions. Silently, he watched a messenger knock on the door to Klaus' home in a pattern that appeared to be a designated signal. The door flew open a second after the messenger had left the folded piece of parchment nailed to the door with a dagger._

"_Who is it, Klaus?" Elena asked, her voice a faint echo coming from somewhere inside the house._

"_Just a traveller passing through, asking for directions," Klaus lied easily, "I will just step out for a while and get some wood."_

_Without waiting for an answer he closed the door behind him and wedged the dagger on the handle, bolting it from the outside. He took five steps before ripping apart the seal and reading the contents of the letter. Klaus read the contents over and over, completely absorbed that he didn't even realize that he was standing still in the middle of a field, angry tears streaming down his face._

_His brother was returning but as he needed to arrange for some things, he sent a letter, as his news could not wait. Elijah had found what Anna had concealed from them for so long. _

_Klaus tore up the paper hoping the act would placate his anger. But the contents were already burned in his brain. He could not unlearn what needed to be done for him to accomplish what he made to be his purpose in his life. They key to his freedom, it appeared, walked right into his life and if the full moon above him had a say, she had perfect timing as well._

_He walked home at a human's pace, agonizingly slow for him but it bought him time to wrestle with his emotions. Away from her, he began to rationalize that the few months with her could not stack up against his desire for true immortality. He could replace her with a more worthy queen once he ascended to his full power. _

_Klaus reached his destination and took the dagger that held it door closed just as Elena stepped towards him, her face filled with worry as she took in his rigid frame. _

"_What has happened?" Elena said reaching out for him, surprised when he stepped past her and walked into the house without a word. She followed him but pressed no further, judging it best to let him be for a while. Elena sat beside him until the fire burned out, the room drowned in total darkness, save for the moonlight that filtered through the window. It was only then that he spoke._

"_I love you."_

_It was the first time he said it to her. Possibly because it was only at that moment that he recognized it for what it was. _

"_And that is the problem." Elena said quietly._

_A frustrated sigh escaped his lips, confirming her statement. She took his hand, her fingers almost as cold as his touch, "It is something to do with…what you are, isn't it?"_

_Klaus could not bring himself to answer, his mind somehow running through possibilities. Running away with her before Elijah caught up with them, killing his brother and anyone else who knew about the doppelganger, what she meant to the vampires and werewolves. But his mind always kept going back to ending her life and reclaiming what he always believed was his birthright._

"_Will it make you happy?" Elena asked, interrupting his thoughts._

_"What will?" _

"_Letting me go."_

_Klaus finally turned to look at her, the moonlight illuminating her face, and how her eyes showed him that she would break her own heart to give him what would make him whole._

"_No," he answered, "no, it won't. Elena, pack your things. We must leave at once. It is not safe here."_

_In less than an hour they were trudging through the forest with only the bare essentials. Klaus pulled on Elena, urging her forward, faster even if he knew it hurt her. Elena did not complain, trusting him completely. _

_They did not make it far when a piercing howl cut through the silence of the night, the most terrifying sound Elena heard in her life. Klaus swore under his breath and threw away anything they were holding, anything that could slow them down and pulled them both into a run. _

_But it took only a few minutes for the wolf to catch up and circle them, eyes bright with the hunt, the need to kill. Klaus tensed, letting the bloodlust takeover him, pushing the savage warrior to the surface. _

"_Elena, when I tell you to run, you go and do not look back." Klaus said pushing her behind him. _

_The wolf bared its teeth at him, almost in a threatening smile as its thoughts somehow became clear to Klaus. Their pack had intercepted the message and they have come to claim the doppelganger for their own. Suddenly, five more wolves arrived, trapping them cleanly. _

_Klaus knew he could take them easily but he could not risk leaving Elena's side. She would be unable to fight and these wolves will not show her mercy. He was put on the defensive, something he had only experienced a handful of times before. But he had no choice but to let her hand go when they attacked all at once._

_He snarled as he punched one wolf in the gut, pulling out whatever organs he could grab, incapacitating them as best he could, before moving on to the next. One wolf landed a blow to his head, its jaws coming close enough to his neck before Elena whacked it on the muzzle, then to its head, giving Klaus the space to maneuver to snap its spine. He whirled like a man possessed, slashing through the air with precision, his hits quick and clean until there was one left. It lunged in his direction, and he watched in slow motion, readying himself to block it but the impact never came. The wolf went straight for Elena and bit her, drinking her blood, then ran away once it realized Klaus was still in play, its survival instinct kicking in. _

_Klaus rushed to Elena's side, cradling her as he assessed the extent of her injuries. He watched the blood pool beneath her, momentarily tempting him, the hunger inside him screaming to be satiated. _

"_Klaus," Elena coughed, "I'm cold."_

_He could save her, with his blood, he could heal her but he didn't know what the wolf's bite meant for a doppelganger. He did not know if she would turn or if she could walk away from it. He stared at the torn flesh on her neck and then at the dagger that was forgotten by her side. She was dying and part of him didn't want to save her.  
><em>

_Klaus decided the risk of having her become his enemy was not worth it. It would be kinder to spare her from the chaos, for now at least. Until he made sure his enemies no longer existed, then he would find a way to bring her back. Anna's spell made sure part of her lived on, he trusted that magic meant part of Elena can still reclaimed. _

_He clenched his jaw and picked up the dagger, "I will find your family, your daughter, even if it takes me to the ends of the earth. I will find them. I will make the wolves pay for what they did to you and the First that cursed us all. If I have to summon her myself to bring you back to me, I will. But for now, you need to die, my love."_

_Without warning, he plunged the dagger straight into her human heart. Her eyes widened in shock, betrayal lining her face as she spoke her final words, "I thought you loved me. I was wrong."_

"_So that's your plan?" Damon said stepping next to Klaus as the image faded and they were the only ones left in the darkness, "Kill a wolf, a vampire and the doppelganger, somehow screw the wolves in the process and bring back your old girlfriend. Is that why you've been perfecting this body snatchers routine so you can stuff someone into Elena?"_

"_I wondered how many of my memories I needed to show you before you caught on," Klaus said, "Oh come on, Damon, did you really think I didn't notice you lurking about. Give me some credit and some gratitude, while you're at it. Before today, no one, not even Elijah knew about her. And it will stay that way."_

"_Alright, since this film festival seems to be a long-winded introduction to your diabolical plan, I'm guessing you want me to find out what that is exactly, so why don't we stop wasting time and you just spell it out for me." Damon said_

"_Patience, Damon," Klaus said, "In time, you will understand. But for now, it is enough for you to know that you're not the only one capable of doing the impossible out of love. I will break this curse, Damon, and I will get her back. If not, then this ring will ensure that I'll have even the smallest bit that's left of her in Elena Gilbert for all eternity. Even if that means I'll have to become you."_

_"I'm weak, I get that," Damon said, "given how easily you shoved me aside in my own body. But Elena, _my_ Elena, isn't. You can't twist her spell and somehow make her believe I am you. For one thing, I don't end every conversation with cryptic statements. She's bound to notice the change. She loves me. She knows me. She's called me out on so much crap I pulled. She's the only one who believed in the few good things I did in my life. Besides, what makes you think your Elena even wants to come back? She doesn't believe you loved her. She said it herself. And to be honest, I'm pretty sure you didn't."_

_With a powerful blow, Klaus knocked Damon unconscious. He flexed his hand, then pushed the ring down securely on his finger. _

"_Good night, Damon, I'll wake you up when it's time to say goodbye."_

* * *

><p>Klaus opened his eyes, his gaze straying to the clock by Elena's bedside. It read an hour before midnight, right on schedule.<p>

He stood up and brushed himself off, boxing up the memories and pushing them to the farthest corner in his mind, sweeping them past Damon who lay silent in his mind.

He went downstairs and found Elena holding Tyler, whispering assurances to him as he tried to stay awake. Klaus watched as her eyes immediately went to his hand, relief flashing in her eyes.

"You're wearing the ring," she pointed out for forced casualness that Klaus almost rolled his eyes, a habit he could not break this body out of.

"Of course, Elena," Klaus said, "I've decided that you returned it to me for a reason. I intend to discover why."

"It's Damon's ring, not yours." Elena said, her eyes not leaving his.

"Then it's mine," Klaus replied, pulling the front door open, "I am him, Elena. Everything of his, I will take. Everything he is, I will be. Get used to it. At least, for the next hour…after that, well, it's irrelevant for you, since you'll be dead. Now, run along to the car and take Tyler with you. Greta, be a dear and help her out."

Elena glared at him as she placed Tyler's arm around her shoulders and hobbled with him out the door, with Greta stomping behind them, ignoring Klaus' orders.

"Enough with the dramatic speeches, Klaus," Jules called out as she approached Klaus, "It's useless and I'm tired of listening to you. So let's just get this over with."

"You're right," Klaus said, "Let's do away with the useless things."

Before she had time to blink, he was beside her and in one fluid motion he snapped her neck.

"I only need one werewolf, Jules," Klaus said as he kicked her body to the side, "It's a shame it's not you."

With a final glance around the house, he closed the door behind him, walked towards Elena Gilbert and didn't look back.


	10. Chapter 10: The Last Stand

**Impossible **

**Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners.**

**Chapter 10: The Last Stand**

"Do you actually expect me to believe that vampires, werewolves and witches exist Jenna said incredulously, looking around at the serious faces around her, "And that somehow Elena is in the middle of this because she's the key to some ancient curse? Are you all out of your minds? I'm calling the police."

"No," Katherine said with a shrug, casually knocking the phone out of reach "Stefan, just show her already to shut her up or compel her. We don't have time for this."

Stefan glared at Katherine before turning to Jenna, "I know this isn't easy to accept but this is real, Jenna. Getting more humans involved in this will be dangerous. This is beyond the police."

"I just…I just can't, Stefan…" Jenna said looking around, her eyes landing on Jeremy, "Please, Jeremy, tell me this is a lie."

Jeremy shook his head and sat down next to his aunt, "I'm sorry. It's a lot to take in but you need to try. Even if you can't fight, at least you need to know when you need to ask for help or just run like hell."

"Oh for goodness sake," Katherine said throwing up her hands. With a hiss her face transformed, her eyes were suddenly rimmed with red as she bared her fangs at Jenna, moving with inhuman speed to grab Jenna. Stefan pulled her back roughly without missing a beat, his own face morphing to match Katherine's.

"Katherine!" Stefan said in warning, gripping her tightly.

Katherine allowed the mask to slip away, a smirk left in its place. She simply shrugged Stefan off and tilted her head towards Jenna, "This story is more of show than tell, Stefan. You have to admit it's effective. I hardly think she can doubt us now."

Stefan ignored her and stepped towards Jenna cautiously who backed away instinctively, "Are you okay? I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."

Jenna cleared her throat nervously, "So…you're a vampire and this Katherine is one too, the one who looks like Elena."

"That's correct," Katherine said stepping forward to stand next to Stefan, "Just so we're clear—Caroline, Vampire Barbie; Bonnie, Witch with the power of dead witches inside her; Jeremy, annoying human little brother; Alaric, human vampire hunter, ex-husband of Isobel, who incidentally was Elena's biological mother. Oh, Tyler is a werewolf but he's not here since he's about to be sacrificed like Elena. Did I miss anyone?"

"Damon," Jenna said in a hollow voice, "He's a vampire too, isn't he? He has her.?"

Elena thought I was unconscious but somehow I could see and hear everything. He did this. He's got this huge elaborate plan and—"

"No, Jenna," Bonnie said gently, "That wasn't really Damon. Klaus is using his body and he's the one pulling the strings. He's the one we need to stop."

"Klaus?" Jenna said looking completely overwhelmed which each new bit of information, "Who is he?"

"He's my brother," Elijah said as he entered the room, "How unfortunate, Jenna, that you had to be included in this. I had once hoped you would never need to get to know the truth about what I am but it appears it is simply inevitable for you to find out about these things "

"Oh, right, Elijah meet Jenna, aunt of current doppelganger. Jenna meet Elijah, an original vampire who is frustratingly always calm and brother to the most evil Klaus," Katherine said gesturing to each of them with her hands, "Are we done now? I really don't see the point of having to explain all this when she's not coming with us anyway."

Jenna's head snapped up, "No, I'm not staying here. I'm going with you to wherever they're keeping Elena. I want to help."

"Just because you want to do something, doesn't mean you can," Katherine said, "Besides, you'll be in the way."

"I hate to agree with her, but Katherine is right," Stefan said with a sigh, "We can handle this. We only told you all of this so you can protect yourself while we're out there. The best thing you can do for Elena right now is to stay safe. Jeremy, you're staying with her."

"No," Jenna said stepping close to Stefan, "I know you think I'm pretty stupid for not having figured this out long ago. Maybe I am weak but I refuse to just sit around. I'm supposed to protect her. I'm her guardian. Her parents left her in my care, Stefan. I have to be there. She needs me."

"Let her go," Elijah said calmly, "The witch, I'm sure, can do something to protect her."

Jenna looked hopefully at Bonnie who seemed to be struggling with her response. After a while, Bonnie nodded and motioned for Jenna to follow her outside. The rest of them walked out after the pair until only Katherine and Elijah were left in the room.

"I thought you were in such a hurry, Katerina," Elijah said as he dusted off a piece of lint from his shoulder, "What are you still doing here?"

"You're not telling us something, Elijah," Katherine said circling him, "Why did you let Jenna go? She's a liability. Why would bring along extra baggage?"

"You make assumptions too quickly, Katerina," Elijah said, "What makes you so sure that Jenna has no bigger role to play in all of this?"

"She's human, Elijah, this doesn't make any sense," Katherine said growing increasingly frustrated, unable to figure out what she was missing.

The corners of Elijah's mouth turned up in mild amusement, "Didn't we all start out that way? As humans… Let us go, Katerina. Now _you_ are the one wasting precious time."

* * *

><p>Caroline stared out the window of the car, watching the world blur around her as they sped towards the old tomb that the 1864 vampires were once trapped in. She sighed heavily, as she watched the full moon against the inky black sky. She stared out at the side mirrors, counting the cars behind them, noticing how Alaric was trying hard to keep up with Stefan's insane speed and how Katherine and Elijah seem to be locked in a suffocating silence in the last car of their convoy.<p>

She traced what she could of the stars in the black sky outside, wondering how she got her life moved from being about boys and cheerleading to something bigger than her small town life. Caroline sighed, wondering what it would have been like to still be oblivious to all of this, or to still be alive. Her hand rested on her chest, where her heart remained completely silent.

Tyler. Every five minutes or so, her restless mind, would always return to his name. Her frustration centered on his name, driving her crazy that he was out of reach and just might not live through the night.

Caroline closed her eyes trying to remember the time before the supernatural madness came into her life. The Tyler she knew then was an arrogant bully with so many walls so that no one could see how messed up his relationship was with his father. And then one by one, the pieces fell. His father died, his Uncle Mason soon followed and then his own transformation happened. Stripped of everything, Caroline saw someone who needed her, someone she needed to protect. And now she felt like she was going to fail him.

"Why is Klaus so powerful?" Caroline asked suddenly, sitting up in her seat, "He's an original, I know that, but isn't Elijah one too? Why can't they just face off in a death match and be done with it?"

"Because Elijah would lose," Stefan said, "Klaus is more powerful."

"And?" Caroline said, drawing out the single syllable question, "Don't leave me hanging, Stefan. Why is he more powerful?"

"He's killed a doppelganger before, the first one since Anna." Stefan replied, "At least that's what the witches said, they weren't very clear about it and Elijah couldn't really confirm it. Supposedly, it was during his first attempt at breaking the curse. Obviously, it didn't work but he gained a lot of power from that ritual. He got a taste of what it would be like to actually unleash all that the curse held back."

"And now he's not going to stop until he has more," Caroline said defeated, leaning back against the window. "Are we there yet?" she asked, a hint of whine in her tone, trying to hide the worry she held close. If she still had a pulse, she knew it would be racing by now, knowing that Tyler was in Klaus' clutches.

"Almost," Stefan answered, his eyes never leaving the road, but somehow able to sense the unease of his companion, "Caroline, hey, we'll get them out of there. Nothing's going to happen to any of them."

"You need to believe your own lies for them to work on someone else," Caroline said in a faraway voice, "What hope do we have of destroying Klaus? I mean really, what are our chances? I get the whole Bonnie has the power of a hundred dead witches, and there's you and that psycho Katherine…but…"

"But what, Caroline?" Stefan said, glancing at her briefly, "What makes you think we can't take on Klaus with our numbers? If we all go for him at once, then one of us is bound to find a weak spot."

Caroline bit her lip and leaned her head against the cool glass, "Because killing him means you kill Damon too. I'm not sure you can do that. Worse, I don't think you will let anyone even try."

Stefan didn't respond, his jaw clenched as his car took on a manic speed. Caroline sighed again, looking at him this time, "For the record, if I find an opening, I'm going for it. I'll kill Klaus…and I guess Damon. I'm sorry but my friends need me...Tyler, needs me."

Stefan nodded once before letting the silence blanket them once more, lasting only a minute before Caroline started again.

"Wait, why did Klaus fail the first time he tried to break the curse if he did manage to kill the doppelganger?" Caroline said, "You mean there's more?"

"There's always more," Stefan said, making a sharp turn, "Until his body turns to dust, there will always be more."

Stefan pulled to an abrupt stop, followed by Alaric's truck and Katherine's car on either side.

"We're here," Stefan said.

"Duh, Stefan." Caroline said, pushing open the passenger door and stepping out into the night.

* * *

><p>The leaves crunched under Bonnie's feet as she made her way through the forest, following Stefan's stealthier steps. Her hands balled into fists by her side as she felt the magic crackle in the air. Even at this distance, she felt the malice of the power that touched her skin.<p>

She was scared, the kind that made her want to run in the opposite direction and never look back. The witches whispered so many things to her, words that never should be repeated or the courage that each of them tried to hold on to would vanish.

Bonnie looked at Jeremy, taking in the hard lines and shadows on his face. He had grown up far too fast and for tonight it seemed like a good thing. Her eyes automatically focused on his hand, checking to see if he still wore the ring that protected him from an unnatural death. He had wanted to give it to Jenna but Bonnie stopped him, assuring him that the spell she cast on the necklace his aunt wore did the same thing at least, she hoped it would. She didn't dare waste any part of the magic she carried around like a burden, worried that somehow any less will mean Klaus will survive.

"_Not all can live. Not all can be protected. The battle has upset the order of things and the magic you possess will barely be enough to restore it," the witches said to her in a haunting chorus, "Choose or you all perish."_

_Bonnie sat up in bed, her forehead beaded with sweat as she clutched her chest, breathing heavily. She yelped in surprise, jumping backwards, when she saw someone sitting on the edge of her bed. _

_The person was more a wisp of smoke than an actual body. Bonnie could see through her but there was enough of her that she could see that it was a woman. She gasped when it turned to face her, a somber expression on its face even as it tried to smile at her._

"_Anna?" Bonnie asked hesitantly, surprised to finally come face to face with the woman who had possessed her. But the woman shook her head and spoke in a voice that was no more substantial than air._

"_No," she said, "I'm Elena."_

"_Elena?" Bonnie said alarmed, "What happened...are you dead?"_

"_No, I'm not the Elena you know. I'm not your friend."_

"_Then who are you?" Bonnie asked still unwilling to believe._

"_Anna was my great grandmother," Elena said, "I am the first doppelganger."_

Bonnie felt her skin tingle from the memory, finding it unbelievable that the first doppelganger had Elena's name. From her vantage point, Bonnie watched as Katherine walked in front of everyone, impatient that they couldn't move at a faster pace given the humans with them. She was itching to fight, to get things over with, and so unlike the passive doppelganger she met.

"_You cannot defeat an enemy you do not fully understand," Elena said, her voice calm and soothing._

"_The witches told me how to kill him," Bonnie said, "He will be vulnerable when the ritual begins because the curse will be emptied from him before it is replaced by what has been sealed for so long. It is with the essence of the curse that seeps out that I'll transfer to the dagger that will kill him."_

_Elena smiled, "He knows this, Bonnie. He will be ready for it. You must do better. No amount of magic will suffice if he can dodge it before you even use it."_

"_Well, there's nothing else!" Bonnie said angrily, her frustration rising to the surface as hot tears trailed down her cheeks._

"_Me." Elena whispered sadly, "Use me. I am his weakness, Bonnie."_

Bonnie was inclined to believe it was a trick. She didn't know how but she wouldn't put it past Greta to be able to pull off something like it. Dark magic was something Bonnie didn't fully understand and maybe it was possible to create this kind of illusion to push her to the wrong path. But the truth was something that settled in Bonnie even as she tried to block it. She felt the words were pure and the offer was real.

"_Let me talk to Klaus…through your Elena," she continued, "Even if I will not be able to change his mind, at the very least I think I can make him pause a little. Enough for you to do what has to be done."_

"_Why I should trust you? Why are you doing this?" Bonnie asked_

"_If he succeeds," Elena said, her voice breaking, "he will be too far gone. There will be nothing left but destruction. He will be lost if I let him continue on this path."_

"_Okay, assuming I can figure out a way to do that and buy you some time," Bonnie said, "What makes you think he will listen to you?"_

"_Because he's doing this for me," Elena answered looking at Bonnie directly, "His guilt and his desire to undo the moment he killed me fuels him. He will not stop. Did you really think immortality and power is all there is to his obsession? Any creature who tasted love will never settle for anything less that everything and that includes Niklaus. I am his weakness because I am the one thing he will die for, Bonnie. So use me, and maybe you will win."_

'Maybe,' Bonnie thought to herself, suddenly grateful that at least she had that hope of a maybe. She just wished the old Elena wasn't lying or she would be giving Klaus everything he ever dreamed of and they'd be left to die at his feet.

* * *

><p>Klaus watched the flames dance around Elena, imprisoning her in a ring of fire, illuminating her fear and determination. She stubbornly stared at anything but him, refusing to acknowledge his presence. But Tyler's sharp cry as he began his transformation caused her to whip around and their eyes met.<p>

Guilt. He felt guilt for causing her so much hurt. Her eyes spoke of it and his entire body wanted to comfort her. It was so strong that he knew not where it started and ended. He couldn't even tell if it was his or Damon's anymore because somehow he was seeing in her the woman he had killed lifetimes ago.

But Damon_ was_ there, able to mask his presence by _being_Klaus, doing, feeling and thinking as he did. Including, looking at Elena and wanting to protect her. He hated himself for not helping her, for not ending this here and now but this emotion was dangerous and he shoved it back. Inside his mind, Damon shook violently, thirsting to get out of his prison and reclaim his body, his life. But he couldn't, not yet. If he wanted to end Klaus for good, then he had to let things happen. He needed to forget he was Damon for a little longer and simply be Klaus.

Elena blinked and looked away. As ridiculous as it sounded in her own head, she _saw_Damon inside those blue eyes. Suddenly it clicked and she understood what he was trying to do. It comforted her that in a way he was truly there with her, hope blossoming in her that they would get through this and that he would strike before anything happened. But doubt reared is ugly head when Damon did nothing and it was only Klaus who spoke to her.

"Don't you just wish Damon would come out now, guns blazing and save the day. I have centuries on him. He doesn't stand a chance," Klaus said with a laugh, trying to be nonchalant but the slight tremor in his voice betrayed him. The steps he took were his, not Damon's, and the desire to hold her was all his.

"It's time, Klaus," Greta said in a clear, strong voice, the fires around them becoming still as she spoke.

"Not just yet, Greta," Klaus said looking around casually, finding it easier if Elena was not in his line of sight, "We are still waiting for some special guests."

"What have you done, Klaus?" Elena said standing up angrily.

"You always think the worst of me, Elena," Klaus said, "You would blame all the world's evil on me if you could, wouldn't you? Well, this one is not on me, my love. Did you expect your merry band of followers to miss our little party? Of course, they're on the way and it would be rude not to wait for them."

"You don't need them for this, Klaus," Elena said, "Isn't that too sadistic even for you? To have an audience watch you murder innocent people?"

"Murder?" Klaus said, his lips turning up into a menacing smile, "See, that was also my mistake the first time around. I assumed I simply needed to kill the doppelganger. I didn't know about the part where I needed the heart of my enemy, sacrificed just before the last bit of life left it and that the intent of the doppelganger is as important as the blood she provides in this little ceremony. It is a sacrifice after all."

"I must be willing to die for the seal to be lifted," Elena said in a hollow voice, "I need to want it."

"Correct," Klaus said stepping up closer to her, just an inch out of reach, "Isn't it convenient that the things I need to be able to motivate you to do that just walked into my little plan?"

Turning to the others, Klaus smiled fully, "Welcome, now who wants to die first?

With blinding speed, Elijah hurled himself onto Klaus, who neatly stepped aside letting his brother fall to the ground. Whirling around Klaus picked up Elijah, his eyes flashing with rage, "You dare betray me again, brother? "

He did not give Elijah a chance to respond. Klaus threw him inside the cave like he weighed nothing and without prompting, Greta waved her had, a spell rising from her to seal Elijah within the tomb. With her other hand, Greta brought down the vampires, forcing a wave of pain on them a hundred times more powerful than Bonnie ever tried on them.

Before anyone else could move, Klaus moved with blinding speed towards Alaric who fired off stake after stake, forcing Jeremy and Jenna behind him. But in one swift motion, Klaus knocked him unconscious and pulled Jeremy and Jenna to him as Greta rounded on Bonnie.

Klaus shook his head as he threw Jenna inside the ring of fire that contained Elena and Jeremy in the other with Tyler.

"Now, Bonnie, I suggest you stop exhausting Greta or I will compel Tyler to eat Jeremy here and now," Klaus said steadily, "Besides, we both know you won't use your full power just yet…waiting for the right moment, yes? Well, that's not until later so I suggest you back off."

Turning to Greta, he continued, "You know what to do."

With a nod, Greta hooked Bonnie with an invisible line, lifting her off the ground to drag her to the tomb, trapping her with Elijah.

"Now, where were we?" Klaus said dusting off his hands, "Right, motivation for Elena."

In a flash, Klaus plucked Jenna from Elena's reach and held her in front of him.

"I'm…I'm not afraid of you," Jenna said shakily, "Let Elena go. I'll do whatever you want."

"I don't need you scared, Jenna," Klaus said with a malevolent grin, his hand fingering the chain around his captive's neck, his fingers tightening around it.

"Damon!" Elena called out in desperation, "Please, stop him. Don't do this. I beg you."

With a flick of his wrist he pulled on it, breaking the clasp neatly and placing the charmed pendant in Jenna's palm, closing her fingers around it, "I just need you dead."

Looking straight into Elena's eyes, Klaus snapped Jenna's neck and dropped her body on the ground.

Elena howled with grief, her world spinning and darkening as she fell to her knees. She curled into a ball, muttering to herself, rocking back and forth wanting to believe that if she held that position long enough then maybe time would stand still. She heard nothing. She didn't see Jeremy try to leap over the fire only to slam into an invisible barrier. She didn't see Bonnie pounding on the seal that Greta put up, muttering incantations as guilt washed over her face. She didn't see how Stefan crawled on his belly trying to just reach Klaus. She didn't see Caroline break through the spell only to be pinned against the wall by a stake Klaus threw clear across the other end of the pit. She didn't see Tyler collide with Jeremy as he tried to get to Caroline, leaving the younger boy unconscious from the blow.

All Elena saw was blue. His eyes, Damon's eyes, were all she saw. She felt betrayed as everything she held on to fell apart at her feet. Her heart shattered in a thousand pieces she could never hope to mend. He let it happen. Damon was there. But he just watched. He just…stood there. It was just as well if he murdered Jenna himself.

White hot anger burned through Elena as tears streamed down her cheeks, her entire body trembling in fury. She stood up with deliberate slowness and faced her enemy.

"Damon," Elena said shaking, her voice ragged, "why? I needed you. I still do. Where are you?"

She watched as his jaw clenched tightly, his fists closed and planted firmly at his sides. He stood perfectly still, his eyes locked with hers, the struggle to stay in that moment clear on his face.

"Klaus?" Greta said, shattering the moment, "The moon will not wait for us."

He closed his eyes and spoke, his voice hoarse, the effort behind the words almost painful to hear, "I'm sorry, Elena."

Elena blinked and when she opened her eyes once more, Klaus' hand was reaching for Tyler and in a second he would pull his heart out.

"No!" Elena heard herself say the word and yet she knew she did not speak.

Klaus sensed the change and he stopped cold. The hesitation made Greta panic and turn towards Bonnie panic, "What have you done!"

But Bonnie wasn't listening, her eyes were trained on Elena, her lips moving soundlessly as she said the incantation that brought the first doppelganger the precious minutes she asked for and silencing the power of Greta.

"You're not yet supposed to be here," Klaus said shaking his head, swallowing the lump in his throat as he stood rooted to the spot, "This isn't….it isn't time…"

"It doesn't matter, Klaus," Elena said gently, "Even if you break the curse and the binding spell withstands that, there's not enough of me left here for you to hold on to. I cannot be brought back."

"No!" Klaus roared, "That is a lie! I will get you back! I cannot lose you!"

"Then you should have never let me go," Elena said, the words cutting into Klaus, forcing him to fall on his knees.

"I wanted too much," Klaus said staring at a spot on the earth, his eyes never leaving it, "When I should have just loved you."

The flames died and Elena walked towards Klaus, her arms going around him as she whispered in his ear the words he said to her as when she died, "In aeternum te amabo."

When the last word left her lips, Elena collapsed in his arms and Klaus kissed her forehead, his tears flowing into hers as his lips touched her skin, "Etiam in morte, superest amor."

"Bonnie," Damon said clearly, finally rising to the surface, "Now."

He reached out with one arm and caught the dagger that Bonnie had infused with the curse itself, the magic of the witches and the sacrifice of Jenna. Damon reaches out and makes a small cut, taking a drop of Elena's blood. Bonnie takes the moonstone and begins the ritual to seal the spell forever, holding vampires and the wolves to the curse using Damon's sacrifice and releasing the doppelganger from it.

He takes a deep breath as a shower of sparks rain on him, Elena's blood on the tip of the dagger, "Sure this will work, witch?"

Bonnie nodded, a small smile passing on her lips in surprise to finally hear Damon, "It should."

"The binding?"

"I can't sense it…she never finished," Bonnie said heavily, "It won't hold you here I'm sorry."

Damon nodded and looked at Bonnie one last time, "Then since everyone else seems to be out of commission, you're going to be the one who gets to carry out my last wish."

Bonnie nodded tearfully, "Anything."

Damon tried to smile but couldn't, shaking his head in defeat, "Tell her I love her, Bonnie. And I'm sorry that I couldn't do better…that I'm not strong enough to stay."

Lifting his face to the heavens, Damon plunged the dagger into his chest, his blood pouring out of him, his life and everything else he shared with Klaus leaving his body.

"You lose," Damon whispered to Klaus, feeling his death as well as his own, letting the darkness envelope him.

Elena gasped as she woke, feeling the tug of the unfinished bond as Damon faded from her, "No, no, no, no,"

She pulled Damon to her while everyone watched in horror, finally free of whatever spell that held them back, the curse unraveling piece by piece.

"Damon," Elena said through tears, finding the dagger and pulling it out, using her hand to cover the gaping hole it left in his chest, "Please, please come back. Hold on, _please_."

"Elena," Bonnie said, kneeling beside Elena, placing her arms around her friend, "Elena…let him go. There's nothing you can do."

"No!" Elena let out a strangled cry and pulled away from Bonnie, using her body to shield Damon from them, "It's not over. It can't be."

On an impulse, she picked up the dagger and made a jagged cut on her arm, letting the blood flow freely. She ignored their protests and kept going, her uninjured hand reaching for Damon's hand, closing over the ring that he still wore. She pulled out the necklace that was still in her pocket and held it close to his ring. She let her blood mix with his until she didn't know where hers began and his ended, her lips frantically repeating the words of the binding spell that Klaus interrupted.

Elena said the words over and over, her desperation growing as the seconds ticked by and Damon lay in her arms unmoving and paler than death. When she could speak no more, she simply laid her head on his chest and cried. Elena wept for everything she lost and the future with Damon that was stolen from her. She felt a strong pair of arms around her, pulling her to her feet but she resisted.

"Don't touch me." Elena said in a low voice, the warning empty but was enough to make Stefan pause, "Just go."

Elena pulled away from Damon a little, just enough for her to reach up and touch the side of his face, "I should have run to you the day you saved me from Elijah. I remember looking at you and I knew…I was safe…or at least, I felt that whatever came next we'd get through it. But I hesitated and now…I should have run to you, Damon. I love you."

She closed her eyes and kissed his cold lips then whispered the words from the wreckage of another love, another Elena,_ "__In__ aeternum __te__ amabo.__"_

And then her world exploded in a brilliant and blinding white before it faded into nothing.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hope you enjoyed that One more chapter to go…stay tuned **


	11. Chapter 11: Awake

**Impossible **

**Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners.**

**Chapter 11: Awake**

Elena raced up the stairs, slipping and almost losing her balance as she chased after the unrestrained laughter that moved from room to room. With renewed determination, she pulled her self up and took the steps two at a time and followed the muddy footprints that stretched out before her.

She reached the landing when all sound stopped. No pitter-patter of feet, no giggling, just plain silence filled the air. Ice-cold fear coursed through her veins, she opened her mouth to yell when she heard something crash in the linen closet by the hall followed by muffled laughter. Elena shook her head, smiling to herself, as she saw that the footprints had already crisscrossed all over but one set clearly led to the closet.

Silently she crept towards the door, pulling it open with a flourish, "Boo."

The blue eyes that looked up at Elena shone with bright mischief, accentuated by high-pitched laughter that came with another escape attempt. But this time Elena caught the troublemaker by the waist and lifted her up before she could go anywhere.

"You made a very big mess, little lady," Elena said to her daughter, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Small arms suddenly encircled her neck that clung to her tightly, "Wake up, Mommy."

Elena pulled away, startled with what her daughter said. She searched the blue eyes of the toddler for an explanation but all she found were tears that threatened to fall.

"Please, Mommy, wake up," the girl said, a plaintive note in her voice.

Elena shook her head, a sense of dread growing in her belly, realizing that something was wrong. Something about this, her house, her daughter, didn't quite feel right. Her daughter continued to plead with her but her mind was spinning rapidly out of control. Elena couldn't place her finger on it but she knew she was forgetting something.

She looked around her, checking what was out of place. She saw the nursery, mostly in order save for a few toys that they used earlier. Next she looked at her bedroom, which was littered with tiny muddy footprints that her daughter left when she was searching for a place to hide. Then Elena's eyes drifted to the wall of photos that lined the stairs, pictures of her small family. Dazed she set her daughter on the ground and walked to the photo that made her pause. She stopped in front of it mesmerized, the face in the frame was her husband, she knew this but what she could not understand was the overwhelming feeling of loss and worry over this man.

Drawn to it, her fingers traced the familiar face, the glass cold under her touch. She stopped when she reached his eyes, an amazing copy that had looked up at her with so much life just a few seconds ago. Without realizing it, Elena was blinking back tears and reaching out for her daughter. The little girl ran to her arms and whispered in her ear.

"I miss Daddy," she said sadly, tearing at Elena, opening wounds she thought were healed long ago, "Bring him back, Mommy. Please."

"I don't know how, sweetheart, I don't…" Elena said holding her child tightly to her, shutting her eyes as if it would dull the pain.

"Yes you do," the child said, "Wake up, Mommy. Wake up."

But Elena couldn't. Because whenever she tried, there was only darkness.

* * *

>"Her vitals are stable," the doctor said, pushing up his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "She should recover just fine."<p><p>

"Provided she wakes up, you mean," Katherine said sharply, her eyes never leaving the seemingly frail patient in the hospital bed.

"The mind has different ways of coping with shock, Ms. Gilbert," the doctor said calmly, "When she's ready, she will wake up. You just have to be patient with your twin."

"She's not my twin," Katherine said correcting the doctor, staring at him fully, her eyes focusing on his until he was held in a trance, "Leave. I was never here. This conversation never happened."

The doctor nodded absently and left without another word, leaving Katherine alone with the patient and the machines that beeped in a synchronized symphony of sounds reminding anyone who could hear that Elena was still alive.

"Wake up, Elena," Katherine said, "I'm not the type to beg but I'm making an exception this time. Please, wake up."

Katherine let out a tired sigh as she turned to look at the other patient who lay still as death in the other bed, "Wake up, Elena, because he's not opening those pretty blue eyes until you do."

She leaned forward and cradled her head in her hands, wondering what law of the universe allowed vampires to have massive headaches. It should be impossible but then again she's seen more incredulous things happen in the past few weeks that this is something she could learn to accept.

Katherine knew that she should have left the moment the curse was broken and Klaus finally gone. She no longer had to keep looking over her shoulder, nothing to hold her back so the most logical thing to do was to walk away. Sure, she still wanted Stefan but she was in no hurry. He'd come around because there were a few things that she didn't lie about. She never compelled his love. It was one of the few things real about her life and she knew that Stefan believed it deep down.

But she couldn't bring herself to leave because the other truth in her life was this—she also loved Damon. In a different way but consuming just the same. It was never her intention to love him. And yet now she found herself reduced to staring at him, wishing he would wake up and make her world right again.

Katherine could still recall clearly the day she first heard about Elena. Back then all she knew was a name but its association with Stefan was enough to infuriate her. The face that she discovered later on intrigued her because it meant she could stop running. But it was that moment with Damon on Elena's porch that made her believe this wasn't an ordinary girl. The wreckage her fake death created something that should have been irreparable. She had done it to make both of them pine for her and want her so badly that when she returned as she had always planned, she would own them.

Elena wasn't supposed to put them back together. She wasn't supposed to make them fall in love with her. And she definitely wasn't supposed to pick Damon.

Katherine smiled to herself, finding it amusing that she figured it out before any of them even considered it was possible. Any girl in her right mind would pick Stefan, caring, loyal and irritatingly good that he was. And though many were drawn to Damon and his bad boy charm, it was never something that was destined to last.

Everyone, including Katherine, believed Elena was no different. It was how the world worked, that when all was said and done, she would pick Prince Charming and the Dark Knight will nurse a broken heart—happily ever after, the end. They were all wrong.

She could still hear their voices echo in the tomb, their words rapid and sharp, their argument betraying how much lay under the surface. Katherine knew that though Elena talked about Stefan, the only one that shared that moment with her was Damon. Katherine wanted to roll her eyes listening to them bicker like an old married couple. She knew in that moment that she had lost Damon and that Stefan never really had Elena. If the roles were reversed and Damon was the one trapped, Stefan would not slam Elena against a wall and yell at her for being so reckless. It was likely that Elena wouldn't even pause at the mouth of the cave to give him a chance to try and stop her. She would be inside in five seconds flat, yelling at Damon for being so stupid to get stuck there. Katherine understood then that it was inevitable that Elena would choose and prove she wasn't afraid of the dark.

"Can't you do something, witch?" Katherine said without turning around, sensing the Bonnie even before she entered the room.

"No," Bonnie said, "They have to do this on their own."

"Emily was never this useless," Katherine said facing Bonnie, "Duplicitous but I have to give her a hand for never getting stuck."

Bonnie glared at her, "You shouldn't be here."

"_They_ shouldn't be here," Katherine said standing up, leveling Bonnie with a hard look of her own, "Damon is not supposed to go this way…not when he's so close to happiness."

A look of surprise crossed Bonnie's face, "I thought you love Stefan or do you just want whichever brother Elena is with?"

Katherine laughed bitterly turning back her attention to Damon, running a finger across his forehead, "When you've lived as long as I have, love is a little more complicated than that and especially not with the Salvatore brothers."

Tense silence settled on them until Katherine sat down again, her gaze focused on Elena this time, "The bond holds?"

"Yes," Bonnie answered hesitantly, wary of what Katherine seemed to be planning, "I can sense it. It's strong."

"Good," Katherine said as she took Damon's hand in hers, "When you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

* * *

><p><p>

Damon tapped his fingers on the wheel, drumming to the rhythm of the song on the radio, waiting for the light to turn green. Suddenly impatient, he switched radio stations, behaving as if finding the right song to listen to would help him get rid of the feeling that he was forgetting something.

"A minivan?" said an irritated voice next to him, "I guess I can't control your dream but at least I'm here."

"Elena? What..how?" Damon said completely surprised, "How did you get in here? And since when did you curl your hair?"

Katherine rolled her eyes, "Seriously? Even here the first thing you notice is the hair? Earth to Damon, it's me Katherine."

Damon smirked and turned his eyes back on the road, "I know. Just wanted to see if you'd vanish if I pretended you didn't exist. So, what brings you to this side of the world? And what witch do you have wrapped around your finger that you're able to appear just like that?"

"You're in a coma, Damon," Katherine said flatly, "You need to wake up and get out of here before it becomes permanent."

"I'm wide-awake, Katherine," Damon said widening his eyes to make his point, "And I have someone waiting for me at home who will _not_ be pleased to see you. So just beam yourself out of here or something."

"Argh!" Katherine growled in frustration, swatting his hand away from the radio, "Will you stop changing the stations and focus. You. Need. To. Wake. Up."

Damon turned up the volume and ignored her, incensing Katherine even more until she lost control and turned it off completely.

"Do you know what's happening in the life you don't seem to want to get back to?" Katherine prattled on, determined to force him to listen, "Jeremy is just a step away from being a stoner boy again, who wouldn't be if you watched your aunt get killed in front of you, your sister is comatose and no one can tell you when or if she'll wake up. Stefan is doing what he does best—brooding and laying all the guilt in the world on her shoulders. The wolves…well, it's still wait and see what breaking the curse has really done to them."

Damon slammed the brakes so hard that Katherine jerked forward sharply in her seat, "A little warning next time, Damon?"

"Elena is in a coma out there?" Damon said ignoring her.

"You know what this is…you remember," Katherine said accusingly, "Well then what the hell are you trying to pull staying under like this?"

"Elena is in a coma?" Damon repeated through gritted teeth, making it clear that they won't be going anywhere until Katherine answers.

"Yes, yes she is." Katherine said throwing her hands in the air.

Damon leaned back and closed his eyes, "Let me guess, her little foray into witchcraft succeeded and the binding thing worked. And the Elena I have here with me is the real one, so to speak."

Katherine nodded and Damon let out a string of curses, each one stronger than the last.

"I don't get it," Katherine said when he finished, "You've known all this time that, whatever this is, isn't real, and believed that you're not actually with Elena. It's not like you to live with a lie. What gives?"

"You were there, Katherine, you saw what I did to Jenna," Damon said in a tight voice, "I figured this is my only chance to be with her because the real one would never forgive me."

"Okay, one, you're an idiot," Katherine said counting off with her fingers, "That was Klaus. Even I can shoot that one down. Two, really, Damon? You think Elena can't forgive you for this? You snapped Jeremy's neck in front of her and still she got past that. You think she's going to hold this over you, when you were just trying to save everyone else? What is really stopping you?"

"We have a family here, Katherine," Damon said so softly, Katherine thought she imagined the words, "that's something we could never have there. I know, somewhere in my head, I'm fully aware it probably never happened but the memories feel real. I've woken up in the middle of the night to change diapers.  
>I've rocked Avery to sleep and snuck her sweets when Elena wasn't looking. Real or not, I've gotten used to that little girl running into my arms each time I come home and telling me she loves me. I didn't want to give it up."<p>

"Avery," Katherine said, a hint of longing in her voice.

"Yes, that's what I said," Damon said surprised at how vulnerable Katherine sounded, "She has a name. She's real to me, Katherine. And this is the only place that I'll be able to see her grow up."

The car stopped in front of his house, the one that he shared with Elena. Katherine smiled, a secret dancing on her lips, finally realizing what the key was to get them out of this mess.

"What?" Damon asked warily, recognizing the look on Katherine's face.

"You're in a coma." Katherine said slowly, drawing it out.

"We've established that. I'm not contesting that fact," Damon said raising his eyebrows.

"In a hospital, Damon," Katherine with a cat-like grin, "With an IV drip, machines and tubes stuck under your skin."

Damon looked at her blankly, refusing to acknowledge what Katherine was saying, thinking it too good to be true.

"Don't pretend you can't feel it, Damon," Katherine said as she opened the car door, "It's real. I've been listening to it for days, wondering when it would stop. I don't know how it happened or if anyone knew it would turn out this way. But it is what it is, Damon. Impossible as it seems, you have a heartbeat."

Katherine stepped out of the car and smiled at Damon, "I think Avery deserves a chance at living in the real world and I would love to be her godmother. I think we can all agree on that."

She turned and walked away, leaving Damon staring after her until she disappeared, her last words haunting him long after she left.

"Wake up, Damon. _Please._"

* * *

><p><p>

Elena placed a hand on her chest, startled to see Damon sitting by the window, his head bowed down.

"Damon!" Elena said, "I didn't hear you come home. What's wrong?"

He looked up and gave her a small smile. He stood up and walked towards her. He held out his hand and let a necklace dangle from it, pulling back when she reached for it.

"What's going on? You're scaring me, Damon," Elena said

He simply shook his head and fastened the necklace on her. He cupped her face in his hands and closed his eyes when he kissed her, soft and gentle as a whisper on her lips.

"I'm sorry, for failing to protect Jenna, for hurting you so many times in the past and for turning into the man that let everything else happen, " Damon said, his forehead touching hers, "I still think I don't deserve you but I do love you. And I'm not going to let you waste away your life in this state we're in, no matter how good we have it here. It's not real…but it could be, or so I'm told."

"What are you talking about?" Elena said worriedly

He took her hand and placed it on his chest, "I'm alive, Elena. We both are…we just need to wake up."

"But Avery…" Elena said, pleading with Damon.

"We'll find her again, Elena," Damon said, pulling her to him as close as he could.

"She won't be safe there," Elena said trembling, worried for her child.

"Between you, me, Stefan, Jeremy, Bonnie, Tyler, Caroline, Alaric and heaven help us, apparently Katherine as well, that kid will be more than safe," Damon pointed out.

Elena raised her eyebrows at the mention of Katherine and Damon just shrugged, "Don't ask. I'm still trying to sort out the conversation I had with her and why she was the one who took it upon herself to tell me I had to wake up."

"Avery said the same thing to me today," Elena said softly, "I spaced out and all I heard from her was wake up, wake up, wake up."

With a sigh, she looked up at Damon, seeing her daughter's blue eyes in his, "I'm not saying it didn't hurt or that I didn't question what you did, especially when it came to Jenna, but I know why you did it. I still love you. Nothing can change that."

Damon nodded, his eyes closed as he kissed the top of her head, letting her words wash over him, cleansing any traces of the monster he still though resided in him.

"So," Elena asked pulling back, "How do we do this? How do we wake up?"

"I think we just have to let her go," Damon said, taking Elena's hand and leading her to the nursery.

Avery looked up when she saw her parents standing by her door, her toys already forgotten as she ran and clung to her father's leg.

"You're leaving me," she said tearfully.

Damon felt his throat tighten, unwilling to let the words spill out. Elena knelt down and reached out to gently pull back Avery's arms.

"We have to, I'm sorry." Elena said gently, wiping the tears from the little girl's eyes, "I'm going to miss you."

Damon crouched down and picked up Avery, "I love you, munchkin. But we have to let you go so that someday you can also meet other people that we love. They're…they're different but they're family, Avery. Mommy and I want you to have the chance to meet all of them and that's not happening if we stay here."

Avery wrapped her arms around him and nodded, letting go when he placed her on the bed and tucked her in.

"Goodnight, sweetheart," Damon said kissing the top of her head, "I'll see you someday soon."

* * *

><p>Damon groaned and swatted away the hand that held the flashlight in his eye. "Get that thing away from me. I can see just fine or are you trying to change that?"<p>

"He's fine," Stefan said tiredly, "Thank you, we'll call you if we need anything."

Damon blinked, letting his eyes adjust to the light, making out the blurry shape of his brother frowning at him.

"Wow, Stefan, can you show any less enthusiasm that I'm okay?" Damon said sitting up, flinching when he felt a sharp pain in his back.

In a second, Stefan was next to him and helping him sit up more comfortably, scolding him as he did, "You could have gotten yourself killed, Damon,"

"Not the first time, brother," Damon said rolling his eyes, "Besides, I've gotten into worse trouble than that and I came out just fine, thank you very much."

"That was then." Stefan said patiently, "You're not a vampire anymore, Damon. Get used to it."

"The pounding in my chest is enough of a reminder, Stefan," Damon said, "I know that but I'm also still not easily killed and wasn't the one stupid enough to go out on a full moon with werewolves running about. Which reminds me, did Vampire Barbie get out in time?"

"Yes," Stefan said, "And her name is Caroline. Don't keep testing your limits, Damon. I know you retained some of your abilities but you've got so much more to lose now. Be careful."

Damon waved him off and changed the topic, "Where's Elena? She should be the one giving me this lecture. Now I'm going to have to sit through another round thanks to you."

"She's getting ice cream with—"

"Daddy! You're awake!"

The toddler wiggled away from Elena and ran to the bed, reaching out for her father. Damon reached down to pick her up, and sat her on the bed, "Can you tell me that story again about the princess and the knight? I think I've forgotten it…"

"Nice try, Damon," Elena said shaking her head, "Sweetie, how about I remind your father about that story and you be the one to tell Uncle Stefan all about it."

Stefan's eyes danced with amusement at the look of horror on Damon's face. He picked up his niece and carried her out, nodding along as she launched into her tale, unknowingly weaving into it bits and pieces from her parents' story.

"That was reckless, stupid and completely unnecessary," Elena said, "You could have gotten yourself killed."

"Yeah, Stefan mentioned something like that," Damon said, "And I would have been just fine. Caroline would have been toast but a bite from a werewolf wouldn't kill me, not anymore."

"You really think I'm just worried about a bite?" Elena said pointedly, "I'm talking about you getting trampled or just plain chewed on! I know you miss certain parts of what you were and what you could do. I know you're still strong. I get all of that but please, you have to remember that if you die, I die with you. We can't orphan Avery, not for a second time, Damon. "

He sobered up as her words hit him hard, "I'm sorry, Elena. I messed up. I'll be more careful next time."

Elena's eyebrows shot up and Damon amended his statement, "Okay, okay there will be no next time. You're much better at this than, Stefan. He gave me a similar speech earlier, less guilt, more 'you're an idiot' type of wording though. Not effective."

"Are you done?" Elena said, trying hard not to smile.

Damon nodded and moved to make space for her on the tiny bed. Elena climbed in and placed her hand on his chest, his hand warm on top of hers.

"If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing," Damon said quietly, turning serious, "I'll live through all of the pain a thousand times over if it means I'll always be able to come back to this moment and have you in my arms. No regrets."

"Just kiss me," Elena said smiling up at him, leaning towards him until their lips met and every worry she had was drowned out by the sound of her heart beating in time with his.


End file.
